---
title: pinyin — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «pinyin» in the school dictionary: Pinyin is the official way of writing Chinese (Mandarin) words with the Latin letters we use for English. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pinyin/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/) / [school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/) / [P](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/) / pinyin

# pinyin

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** Pinyin, we, It, card, Beijing, cousin · **What happens:** be, use, show, intonate, write, learn · **To what, where:** official way, Latin letters, tones, Mandarin, Nǐ, pinyin

<!-- .vabout -->
«pinyin» in the school dictionary: its 2 meanings for a pupil and its 7 examples, every sentence parsed by Mova itself — its syntax tree, a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, and its pragmatics clause by clause. The word in the dictionary, with its sense in the lessons: [pinyin in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/pinyin.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Pinyin is the official way of writing Chinese (Mandarin) words with the Latin letters we use for English.

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:pinyin:m1:1
# text = Pinyin is the official way of writing Chinese (Mandarin) words with the Latin letters we use for English.
1	Pinyin	pinyin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	official	official	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	writing	writing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
8	Chinese	Chinese	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
9	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	Mandarin	Mandarin	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	10	punct	_	_
12	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	appos	_	_
13	with	with	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	Latin	Latin	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nmod	_	_
17	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
18	use	use	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	acl:relcl	_	_
19	for	for	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Pinyin | the official way |  |  |  | of writing | tree rules |
| 2 | **use** | present | we | the Latin letters *not said here* |  |  |  | for English | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP PP.predicate»: agent=Agent letter=Theme for english=Eventuality |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## Meaning 2 {#m2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It also shows the tones of Mandarin with little marks over the vowels, such as mā, má, mǎ, mà.

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:pinyin:m2:1
# text = It also shows the tones of Mandarin with little marks over the vowels, such as mā, má, mǎ, mà.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	also	also	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	tones	tone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	Mandarin	Mandarin	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
8	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	marks	mark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
11	over	over	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	vowels	vowel	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
15	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|ExtPos=ADP	17	case	_	_
16	as	as	ADP	IN	_	15	fixed	_	_
17	mā	mā	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
19	má	má	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
21	mǎ	mǎ	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
23	mà	mà	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present | It | the tones of Mandarin |  |  |  | with little marks over the vowels and mā and má and mǎ and mà | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent tone=Recipient |
| 2 | **intonate** |  |  | Mandarin |  |  |  | with little marks over the vowels and mā and má and mǎ and mà | nom tone «communication transitive»: of=patient with=obl |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"Nǐ hǎo" is "hello" written in pinyin.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:pinyin:x1:1
# text = "Nǐ hǎo" is "hello" written in pinyin.
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Nǐ	Nǐ	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	hǎo	hǎo	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	2	dep	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	hello	hello	INTJ	UH	_	9	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
9	written	write	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	pinyin	pinyin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **write** | participle · passive |  | Nǐ |  | pinyin |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme in pinyin=Destination |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
We learnt the pinyin for numbers one to ten.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:pinyin:x2:1
# text = We learnt the pinyin for numbers one to ten.
1	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	learnt	learn	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	pinyin	pinyin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	numbers	number	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
7	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	flat	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	ten	ten	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **learn** | past | We | the pinyin |  |  |  | for numbers | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pinyin=Topic |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The card had the Chinese character and the pinyin underneath.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:pinyin:x3:1
# text = The card had the Chinese character and the pinyin underneath.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	card	card	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	Chinese	Chinese	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	character	character	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	pinyin	pinyin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
10	underneath	underneath	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | past | the card | the Chinese character and the pinyin |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent character=Patient |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In pinyin, "Beijing" replaced the old spelling "Peking".

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:pinyin:x4:1
# text = In pinyin, "Beijing" replaced the old spelling "Peking".
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	pinyin	pinyin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	Beijing	Beijing	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
7	replaced	replace	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	spelling	spelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
11	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	Peking	Peking	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **replace** | past | Beijing | the old spelling |  | pinyin |  |  | vn substitute-13.6.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme spelling=Co-Theme |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
My cousin types Chinese messages using pinyin.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:pinyin:x5:1
# text = My cousin types Chinese messages using pinyin.
1	My	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	cousin	cousin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	types	type	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	Chinese	Chinese	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	messages	message	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	using	use	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	acl	_	_
7	pinyin	pinyin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **type** | present | My cousin | Chinese messages |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent message=Theme |
| 2 | **use** | gerund | Chinese messages *not said here* | pinyin |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pinyin=Patient |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The little marks in pinyin show the four tones.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:pinyin:x6:1
# text = The little marks in pinyin show the four tones.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	marks	mark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	pinyin	pinyin	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
6	show	show	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	four	four	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	tones	tone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present | the little marks in pinyin | the four tones |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent tone=Recipient |

## Example 7 {#x7}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Pinyin letters do not always sound like English letters: "x" sounds a bit like "sh".

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:pinyin:x7:1
# text = Pinyin letters do not always sound like English letters: "x" sounds a bit like "sh".
1	Pinyin	pinyin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
3	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
5	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	6	advmod	_	_
6	sound	sound	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	like	like	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	English	English	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	14	punct	_	_
11	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	x	x	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	_
14	sounds	sound	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	parataxis	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	bit	bit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
17	like	like	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	19	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	sh	sh	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **sound** | present · do-support | Pinyin letters |  |  |  |  | like English letters; always *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **sound** | present | x | a bit like sh |  |  |  |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |

<!-- div src -->

**Text:** the school dictionary of Mova's schools (`world/data/dictionary-schools/`), written for Mova. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each meaning and example read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [pinwheel](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pinwheel/)
- next →: [pioneer](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pioneer/)
- ↑ back to [P in school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/)