Pinyin + Tianzige Worksheet Generator

How to use it

1. Paste your text. Type or paste simplified Chinese characters into the box. You can paste:
   • a word list (separate words with spaces),
   • a short passage (each line becomes a paragraph),
   • a poem or nursery rhyme. An optional first line starting with # becomes the sheet title.
2. Pick a mode.
   • Full: pinyin plus the character in black. For reading practice and for checking answers.
   • Tracing (描红): pinyin plus the character in light grey for tracing over.
   • Blank (dictation): pinyin only, with empty squares. The learner writes each character from memory.
3. Check the highlighted characters. Characters with more than one reading (多音字, polyphones) are highlighted. Click one to choose the reading that fits your sentence, for example 了 as le in 我吃了 or liǎo in 了解.
4. Preview and print. Print on A4 paper. In your browser's print dialog, set scale to 100% (or "actual size") so the squares come out at the intended size. You can also save as PDF.

How the sheet is laid out

• The grid. Each square is a classic 田字格: a solid outer square split into four quarters by a dashed horizontal and vertical cross. The cross helps a learner place strokes and keep the parts of a character in proportion.
• Pinyin strip. A strip above each square holds the pinyin with tone marks, following the 1958 Scheme for the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet (汉语拼音方案).
• Punctuation goes in its own square and is never placed at the start of a line, the same convention used in Chinese exercise books.
• Paragraphs start with a two-square indent.
• Font. Characters are shown in a Kai-style (楷体) typeface, which looks much closer to handwriting than the Song/Ming style used in most printed books.

Method and assumptions

• Pinyin comes from a dictionary lookup. Most characters have a single reading, so the lookup gets them right. Polyphones (多音字) depend on context, and no automatic lookup is perfect. That is why the generator highlights them for you to confirm.
• Tone marks: original tone or changed tone? China's national standard for pinyin orthography (GB/T 16159-2012) says 一 and 不 are generally written with their original tone (yī, bù), but that in language teaching they may be written with the changed tone (for example 一天 as yì tiān, 不对 as bú duì) (GB/T 16159-2012, §6.5.2). The generator lets you choose. Many teachers of young children prefer the changed tones because they match what the child hears. See our guide to tone change rules.
• Neutral tones carry no tone mark, as the standard specifies (GB/T 16159-2012, §6.5.1).
• Character by character. For early readers the standard allows pinyin to be written per character rather than per word (§7.1), which is how this generator works.
• Simplified characters. The generator is designed for simplified characters as used in mainland China.

FAQ

Why are some squares highlighted? Those characters have more than one possible reading. Pick the one that matches the word. Common examples: 长 (cháng / zhǎng), 干 (gān / gàn), 中 (zhōng / zhòng), 分 (fēn / fèn).

Why does 一 sometimes show as yì or yí? In speech, 一 changes tone depending on the next syllable. If you turn on "spoken tones", the sheet shows the tone you actually hear. Turn it off to show yī everywhere, which is the default way of writing it in most non-teaching contexts.

What size are the squares? The default sheet uses 13 mm squares on A4, a comfortable size for children who are starting to write. Make sure your printer isn't set to "fit to page" if you want that exact size.

Can I print stroke order? Not at launch. The modes are full, tracing and blank (dictation).

Is my text stored or sent anywhere? No. The worksheet is built in your browser, and nothing you type is sent to our server. See our privacy page.

I found a wrong pinyin. What should I do? Please tell us at contact@xinlab.ccwu.cc with the character and the word it appeared in. We fix reported errors.

Disclaimer

The generator is a practice aid, not a textbook. Pinyin is produced automatically and polyphones need checking, so please look over every sheet before giving it to a learner. For school-specific requirements, such as whether to mark changed tones, follow your teacher's or textbook's convention.