Basic Rules of Hanyu Pinyin Orthography
(Summary)

中文拼音正詞法基本規則

For a fuller explanation of the rules, see Chinese Romanization: Pronunciation & Orthography

  1. General rules:
    1. Words are the basic units for spelling the Chinese Common Language.
      • rén (person/people),
      • péngyou (friend[s]),
      • túshūguǎn (library/libraries)
    2. Structures of two or three syllables that indicate a complete concept are linked:
      • quánguó (the whole nation),
      • duìbuqǐ (sorry),
      • qiūhǎitáng (begonia)
    3. Separate terms with more than 4 syllables if they can be separated into words, otherwise link all the syllables:
      • wúfèng gāngbǐ (seamless pen),
      • yánjiūshēngyuàn (graduate school),
      • jīngtǐguǎn gōnglǜ fàngdàqì (transistor power amplifier),
      • Hóngshízìhuì (Red Cross)
    4. Reduplicated monosyllabic words are linked, but reduplicated disyllabic words are separated:
      • rénrén (everybody),
      • chángshi chángshi (give it a try)
      Juxtaposed reduplications (AABB structures) are separated by a hyphen:
      • láilái-wǎngwǎng (come to and fro)
      • qīngqīng-chǔchǔ (be clearly)
    5. In certain situations, for the purpose of making it convenient to read and understand the words, a hyphen can be added:
      • huán-bǎo (environmental protection)
      • shíqī-bā suì (17 or 18 years old)
  2. Nouns:
    1. Monosyllabic prefixes and suffixes are linked with nouns. Prefixes: fù- (vice), zǒng- (general/main/chief), fēi- (non), fǎn- [anti], chāo- (super/surpass), lǎo – (old/venerable), A – (marker of a nickname/endearment), kě (-ble), wú- (non), and so forth. Suffixes: -zǐ, -ér, -tóu (head, nominal ending), -xìng (nature), -zhě/yuán (-ist), -jiā (expert/-ist), -shǒu (hand/person/expert/-ist), -huà (-ized), men (-s/es), and so forth). For example:
      • fù-bùzhǎng (vice-director of a [government] department),
      • zǒng-gōngchéngshī (chief engineer),
      • yìshùjiā (artist [in general]).
    2. Nouns and the directional words/locations after them are separated.
      • mén wài (outside the door)=mén wàimian (/wàibiān/wàitou),
      • huǒchē shàngmian (on the train)
      The syllables of lexical items are linked.
      • hǎiwài (this means “overseas,” not “outside of the sea”)
    3. Surnames and given names (xìngmíng/míngzi) are written separately in the Chinese Han language. The first letters of surnames and the given names are capitalized. Pen names (bǐmíng) and nicknames (biémíng) are written according to the same principles:
      • Wáng Jiànguó,
      • Dōngfāng Shuò,
      • Zhāng Sān
      A personal name and the person’s professional title are separated:
      • Wáng bùzhǎng,
      • Lǐ xiānsheng/xs
      The first letter of personal addresses such as Lǎo, Xiǎo, Dà, Ā, and so forth are capitalized. For example:
      • Xiǎo Liú (Little Liu),
      • Wú Lǎo (honorable Old Wu),
      • ` Sān (The Third [in a family])
      When the surname of historically well-known figures is combined with a respectful or descriptive term by which they are commonly known, the syllables are linked, and the first letter is capitalized. For example:
      • Kǒngzǐ (Confucius),
      • Bāogōng (Grand Judge Bao),
      • Xīshī (Beauty Xishi)
    4. Proper names and general names of places are separated and the first letter of each of the names is capitalized.
      • Běijīng Shì (Beijing City),
      • Dòngtíng Hú (Lake Dongting)
      The monosyllabic prefixes or suffixes of proper names and general names are linked. For examples:
      • Jǐngshān Hòujiē (Back Street of Jingshan),
      • Cháoyángménnèi Nánxiǎojiē (Southern Small Street Inside the Gate Facing the Sun)
      Link the syllables of established names for villages, towns, and other places when it is not necessary to distinguish whether they are proper names or general names (the first letter is capitalized). For example:
      • Wángcūn (Wang Village),
      • Zhōukǒudiàn (a place near Beijing where the fossilized remains of Peking Man were discovered),
      • Sāntányìnyuè (Moon Reflected in Three Ponds)
    5. Personal and place names not in the Chinese Han language, based on the principle of “according with the custom of the person in question (míng cóng zhǔrén),” are written either in the original language or transcribed in Roman letters. For example:
      • Einstein (Ài’īnsītǎn),
      • Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme (Āpèi Āwàng Jìnměi),
      • London (Lúndūn),
      • Washington (Huáshèngdùn)
      Foreign names transcribed in the Chinese Han language are written according to the pronunciation of the corresponding characters. For example:
      • Nánměi (South America),
      • Déguó (Germany),
      • Dōngnányà (Southeast Asia)
  3. Verbs:
    1. (Monosyllabic) action verbs are linked with the suffixes zhe, le, guo. For example:
      • kànzhe (reading/looking),
      • kànle (read [once at a past moment/time]),
      • kànguò (have/had read [at least once])
      Le at the end of a sentence is separated from the sentence. For example:
      • Huǒchē dào le (Completed action: The train came/has come).
    2. Action Verbs and their Objects are separated. For example:
      • kàn xìn (read a letter),
      • chī yú (eat fish),
      • kāi wánxiào (make a joke)
      But the action verb and object are linked when they together express one concept. For example:
      • chīfàn (eat/make a living),
      • shuìjiào (sleep),
      • kànshū (read),
      • dǎqiú (play [ball game]),
      • jūgōng (bow),
      • kētóu (kowtow)
      The syllables of Verb+Object type compound words are written separately when another element is inserted between the syllables. For example:
      • jūgōng (bow) à jūle yī ge gōng (bowed once)
    3. An Action Verb and its complement are linked if both are monosyllabic. Otherwise they are separated. For example:
      • gǎohuài (ruin it),
      • zǒu jìnlái (walk in),
      • xiūlǐ hǎo (fix/repair [and make] it [mended])
  4. Adjectives:
    1. Monosyllabic adjectives link with their reduplicated prefixes or suffixes. For example:
      • mēngmēngliàng (dimly bright),
      • liàngtāngtāng (brightly lit)
    2. Adjectives are separated from xiē, yīxiē, diǎnr, yīdiǎn that follow them. For example:
      • kuài (yī)xiē ([be] faster),
      • kuài (yī)diǎn ([be] faster)
  5. Pronouns:
    1. Men indicates the plural and is linked with the noun in front of it. For example:
      • wǒmen (we/us),
      • tāmen (they/them)
    2. Demonstrative pronouns zhè, nà and the interrogative demonstrative pronoun nǎ are separated from the nouns that follow them.
      • zhè (ge) rén (this person),
      • zhè zhī chuán (this boat),
      • nǎ zhāng bàozhǐ (which newspaper?)
      zhè, nà, nǎ are linked with xiē, me, yàng, bān, lǐ, biān, huǐr, ge
      • zhèxiē (these),
      • zhège (this one),
      • nàyàng (that way/then),
      • zhèhuǐr (at this moment)
    3. Gè, měi, mǒu, běn, gāi, wǒ, nǐ, and so forth are separated from the nouns or measure words that follow them. For example:
      • gè guó (each country),
      • gè gè (each, every),
      • měi nián (every year),
      • gāi gōngsī (this/that company)
  6. Numerals and measure words:
    1. Whole numbers from eleven to ninety-nine are written together
      • shíwǔ (fifteen),
      • sānshísān (thirty-three)
    2. Bǎi (hundred), qiān (thousand), wàn (ten thousand), yì (hundred million) are linked with the integer in front of them, but “ten thousand” and “hundred million” are separated from zeros following them. For example:
      • jiǔyì líng qīwàn èrqiān sānbǎi wǔshíliù (900,072,356)
    3. Di + Numeral indicates order, and it is linked by a hyphen with the number. For example:
      • dì-shísān (thirteenth),
      • dì-èrshíbā (twenty-eighth)
    4. Numbers and Measure Words are separated:
      • liǎng ge rén (two people),
      • yī dà wǎn fàn (a big bowl of cooked rice)
      “Duō, lái, jǐ” indicate a rough quantity (yuēshù), and they are separated from the numbers and measure words that precede and follow them. For example:
      • yībǎi duō ge (more than 100),
      • shí lái wàn rén (about 100,000 people)
      Numbers indicating “more than ten and several score” are linked. For example:
      • shíjǐ ge rén (more than ten people),
      • jǐshí ge rén (several tens of people)
  7. Function Words (xūcí) are separated from other words:
    1. Adverbs:
      • hěn hǎo (be good/fine),
      • zuì dà (be the biggest),
      • fēicháng kuài (be extremely fast)
    2. Prepositions:
      • zài qiánmiàn (in the front),
      • shēng yú 1940 nian (was born in 1940)
    3. Conjunctions:
      • nǐ hé wǒ (you and I);
      • Nǐ lái háishi bù lái? (Are you coming [or not]?)
    4. The Constructive Auxiliaries (jiégòu zhùcí) de/d (的 ), de/di (地 ), de (得), zhi (之).
      • mài cài d(e) (vegetable seller[s]),
      • mànmàn de/di zou (walk slowly),
      • hóng de hěn (be really red)
    5. The Model Auxiliary is written separately at the end of a sentence:
      • Nǐ zhīdào ma? (Do/Did you know)?
      • Kuài qù ba! (Hurry and go!)
    6. Exclamation:
      • A, zhēn měi! (Ah, It’s really beautiful!)
    7. Onomatopoeia:
      • Pā! (Bang!”);
      • Hōnglōng yi sheng (a rumbling sound)
  8. Set Phrases (chéngyǔ):
    1. Four-character Set Phrases that can be divided into two halves are linked by a hyphen. For example:
      • céngchū-bùqióng (happens/ed endlessly),
      • guāngmíng-lěiluò (be righteous)
    2. All other four-character set phrases and well-known expressions (shúyǔ) that cannot be readily segmented are linked. For example:
      • bùyìlèhū (Isn’t it a happy thing?)
      • àimònéngzhù (Sorry that I can’t help you).
  9. Capital Letters:
    1. The letter at the beginning of a sentence is capitalized. For example:
      • Míngtian nǐ qù ma? (Are you going tomorrow?)
    2. The first letter of a proper noun is capitalized. For example:
      • Běijīng Dàxué (Peking University);
      • Tài Shān (Mount Tai);
      • Huáng Hé (Yellow River)
  10. Hyphenation:
    1. Care should be taken to hyphenate only between the syllables of words and other linked expressions at the ends of lines of running texts.
  11. Indication of Tones:
    1. Only the original tones are indicated; tone sandhi is not indicated.