Pinyin to Zhuyin Converter · Bopomofo Translator

What is zhuyin (bopomofo)?

Zhuyin (注音符号, often called bopomofo after its first four letters ㄅㄆㄇㄈ) is the phonetic alphabet used in Taiwan to write Mandarin sounds. Instead of Latin letters it uses 37 dedicated symbols distilled from simple character components - ㄅ comes from 勹, ㄆ from 攵, ㄇ from 冖, ㄈ from 匚 - so every sound in the language has exactly one shape, and confusing pinyin spellings like zhi, qi and ji become distinct ㄓ, ㄑ, ㄐ.

Pinyin and zhuyin describe the same sounds two different ways - converting between them is a mechanical letter-for-symbol substitution once the spelling rules are handled (the ü hiding inside ju, the y-/w- glides, the silent vowel in zhi/ci/si). The converter above implements all of them; the chart below lists every symbol with its pinyin equivalent.

Why Taiwan learns ㄅㄆㄇㄈ

Zhuyin predates pinyin by four decades and Taiwan never replaced it: children learn to read with it in their first school weeks, dictionaries and textbooks print it beside every character, and it is the keyboard layout on every phone and computer sold on the island. It pairs naturally with Traditional characters - the Taiwan-standard pair LinZi teaches through its Taiwan Mandarin materials.

Because zhuyin symbols don't look like Latin letters, learners can't lean on English-letter instincts: ㄒ is just ㄒ, not "x pronounced however English says". Most learners who know pinyin pick the 37 symbols up in a weekend - the pinyin vs zhuyin guide walks the differences, and the sounds chart plays every one in both accents.

Initials · 声母 the consonant that opens the syllable

ㄅ

b

ㄆ

p

ㄇ

m

ㄈ

f

ㄉ

d

ㄊ

t

ㄋ

n

ㄌ

l

ㄍ

g

ㄎ

k

ㄏ

h

ㄐ

j

ㄑ

q

ㄒ

x

ㄓ

zh

ㄔ

ch

ㄕ

sh

ㄖ

r

ㄗ

z

ㄘ

c

ㄙ

s

Medials · 介音 the glide between initial and final

ㄧ

i / y-

ㄨ

u / w-

ㄩ

ü / yu-

Finals · 韵母 the vowel and ending of the syllable

ㄚ

a

ㄛ

o

ㄜ

e

ㄝ

ê

ㄞ

ai

ㄟ

ei

ㄠ

ao

ㄡ

ou

ㄢ

an

ㄣ

en

ㄤ

ang

ㄥ

eng

ㄦ

er

The invisible 38th sound: ㄭ

One final rarely gets printed: the apical vowel ㄭ, the "empty rime" after the tongue-tip initials. Standard writing simply omits it - ㄓㄔㄕㄖㄗㄘㄙ stand alone - which is why pinyin zhi, ci, si look like they contain an i that isn't really there. The converter knows: zhi1 converts to plain ㄓ, and a bare ㄓ converts back to zhī.

Where the tone marks go

Tone	Mark	Pinyin	Zhuyin	Note
1st · high	(none / ˉ)	mā	ㄇㄚ	unmarked in everyday writing
2nd · rising	ˊ	má	ㄇㄚˊ	mark sits after the last symbol of the syllable
3rd · dipping	ˇ	mǎ	ㄇㄚˇ
4th · falling	ˋ	mà	ㄇㄚˋ
5th · neutral	˙	ma	ㄇㄚ˙	a dot - textbooks write it before the syllable (˙ㄇㄚ), dictionaries and keyboards after (ㄇㄚ˙); both read the same

The spelling rules the converter handles

Pinyin	Zhuyin	Rule
juān · jué · xuě · yǔn	ㄐㄩㄢ · ㄐㄩㄝˊ · ㄒㄩㄝˇ · ㄩㄣˇ	u after j, q, x, y is really ü - spelled out with ㄩ
nǚ · lüè	ㄋㄩˇ · ㄌㄩㄝˋ	after n and l, pinyin keeps the dots (type ü, v or u:)
yī · wǔ · yú	ㄧ · ㄨˇ · ㄩˊ	initials y- and w- are just the medials ㄧㄨㄩ
yān vs yuán	ㄧㄢ vs ㄩㄢ	y+an is ㄧㄢ; yu- means the ü family - ㄩㄢ, ㄩㄝ, ㄩㄣ, ㄩㄥ
liú · guī · zhǔn · dōng	ㄌㄧㄡˊ · ㄍㄨㄟ · ㄓㄨㄣˇ · ㄉㄨㄥ	pinyin abbreviates -iou, -uei, -uen and writes -ong for ㄨㄥ
zhī · chí · shī · rì · zī · cí · sī	ㄓ · ㄔ · ㄕ · ㄖ · ㄗ · ㄘ · ㄙ	the apical rime ㄭ is unwritten - no vowel symbol follows
huār · diǎnr	ㄏㄨㄚㄦ · ㄉㄧㄢˇㄦ	the erhua -r suffix glues ㄦ onto the syllable it colors
bàba · shénme	ㄅㄚˋ ㄅㄚ˙ · ㄕㄣˊ ㄇㄜ˙	unmarked pinyin input = neutral tone, output as the ˙ dot

Typing zhuyin

Every phone and computer sold in Taiwan ships a zhuyin IME, and both iOS and Android include one under Chinese (Traditional) keyboards - add it and the standard layout puts ㄅㄆㄇㄈ down the left column of keys. Type the symbols of the syllable, then a tone (digits or the ˊˇˋ˙ marks) to pick characters. Windows and macOS have the same IME built in (微软注音 / 注音输入法).

Don't have the keyboard? The symbol palette above the input box inserts every letter, and the converter happily eats pasted zhuyin - paste ㄋㄧˇ ㄏㄠˇ (or tick auto-detect) and it converts back to nǐ hǎo.

Real words, both systems

HSK 1-3 vocabulary from the LinZi dictionary - Taiwan zhuyin readings exactly as printed. Note how zhuyin keeps citation tones where mainland pinyin neutralizes them.

Word	Pinyin	Zhuyin	Level	Meaning
你好	nǐ hǎo	ㄋㄧˇ ㄏㄠˇ	HSK 1	hello
谢谢	xiè xie	ㄒㄧㄝˋ ㄒㄧㄝˋ	HSK 1	to thank
老师	lǎo shī	ㄌㄠˇ ㄕ	HSK 1	teacher
学校	xué xiào	ㄒㄩㄝˊ ㄒㄧㄠˋ	HSK 1	school
没有	méi yǒu	ㄇㄟˊ ㄧㄡˇ	HSK 1	haven't
什么	shén me	ㄕㄣˊ ㄇㄜ˙	HSK 1	what?
怎么	zěn me	ㄗㄣˇ ㄇㄜ˙	HSK 1	how?
中国	zhōng guó	ㄓㄨㄥㄍㄨㄛˊ	HSK 1	China
时候	shí hou	ㄕˊ ㄏㄡˋ	HSK 1	time
觉得	jué de	ㄐㄩㄝˊ ㄉㄜ˙	HSK 1	to think that ...
女儿	nǚ ér	ㄋㄩˇ ㄦˊ	HSK 1	daughter
一点儿	yī diǎn r	ㄧㄉㄧㄢˇ ㄦˊ	HSK 1	erhua variant of 一點\|一点 (一點\|一点 · a bit)

Common questions

What is zhuyin (bopomofo)?

Zhuyin (注音, also called bopomofo after its first four symbols ㄅㄆㄇㄈ) is the phonetic alphabet used in Taiwan to write Mandarin sounds. Its 37 symbols - 21 initials, 3 medials and 13 finals - are derived from simple Chinese character components rather than Latin letters. Every Mandarin syllable pinyin can spell, zhuyin can too, and this converter maps between the two.

Does Taiwan still use zhuyin?

Yes - it is the standard. Taiwan schoolchildren learn to read and write with zhuyin before characters, textbooks and dictionaries print it beside every character, and it is the default input method on phones and computers sold in Taiwan. Pinyin appears mostly in street names and textbooks aimed at learners.

How do I convert pinyin to zhuyin?

Type or paste pinyin in the box above - tone marks (nǐ), tone numbers (ni3) or unmarked syllables all work, and ü can be written ü, v or u:. The converter handles the tricky mappings automatically: the u in ju/qu/xu/yu stands for ü, yan is ㄧㄢ while yuan is ㄩㄢ, and erhua -r becomes a trailing ㄦ. Paste zhuyin instead (or flip the direction toggle) to convert the other way.

How are tones written in zhuyin?

The first tone is unmarked (or ˉ), then ˊ second, ˇ third and ˋ fourth, written after the last symbol of the syllable: ㄇㄚㄇㄚˊ ㄇㄚˇ ㄇㄚˋ. The neutral tone uses a small dot ˙ which Taiwan textbooks place before the syllable (˙ㄇㄚ) while dictionaries and keyboards commonly write it after (ㄇㄚ˙). This converter reads both and outputs the dictionary-style trailing dot.

How do I type zhuyin on my phone or computer?

iOS and Android both ship zhuyin keyboards under Chinese (Traditional) input, and Windows/macOS have built-in 注音 IMEs. The standard layout puts ㄅㄆㄇㄈ down the left key column; you type the symbols then a tone mark or digit to pick the character. The palette buttons above the input box also insert every symbol - handy on non-Taiwan keyboards.

Is the u in pinyin ju/qu/xu the same as ü?

Yes - after j, q, x and y the vowel is always ü even though pinyin writes plain u (ju is jü). Zhuyin is explicit: those syllables are spelled with ㄩ, so juān = ㄐㄩㄢ. The ü only stays visibly different after n and l, where pinyin must keep the dots: nü = ㄋㄩ, lüe = ㄌㄩㄝ.

Keep going

Hear every symbol in both accents on the sounds chart, compare the two systems in depth in the pinyin vs zhuyin guide, see how Taiwan Mandarin differs on the Taiwan track, or check your level with the adaptive level test. Every word above links into the open dictionary.

Pinyin to zhuyin converter.