Pinyin Tone Marks Converter (Numbers → Marks)
Convert numbered pinyin to tone marks instantly. Turn ni3 hao3 into nǐ hǎo — free online tone-mark converter with correct tone placement and ü support.
Paste pinyin written with tone numbers and get it back with proper tone marks — ni3 hao3 becomes nǐ hǎo. Free, instant, no signup.
Numbered pinyin vs. tone marks
Tone numbers (1–5) are easy to type but hard to read; tone marks (ā á ǎ à) are how pinyin is normally written. This tool bridges the two — useful when you've typed pinyin quickly, copied it from a dictionary, or generated it from software that outputs numbers.
- Tone 1 — flat high: mā
- Tone 2 — rising: má
- Tone 3 — dip: mǎ
- Tone 4 — falling: mà
- Tone 5 — neutral: ma (no mark)
Type v or u: for ü (e.g. lv4 → lǜ).
Where the tone mark goes
The converter follows the standard placement rule so the mark lands on the right vowel:
- If there's an a, it takes the mark.
- Otherwise if there's an e, it takes the mark.
- In ou, the o takes it.
- Otherwise the last vowel takes it.
So hao3 → hǎo, xue2 → xué, dou1 → dōu, gui4 → guì.
From pinyin to reading real Chinese
Tone marks help you say a word — but reading fluently means connecting the character to sound and meaning directly. Open a story in Pinyora: tap any word for pinyin, English, and native audio, and save it to review.
Open Pinyora and read at your level.
Frequently asked questions
Does it handle syllables run together? Yes — Zhong1guo2 converts to Zhōngguó. Put a tone number after each syllable.
Why didn't a syllable get a mark? Only syllables followed by a tone number (1–4) are marked. A syllable with no number, or number 5, is left unmarked (neutral tone).
Can it go from marks back to numbers? Not yet — this converts numbers → marks, the more common need.