The principle of Pinyin input is straight forward. By typing the Pinyin for a character, we limit to a list of characters with the same pronunciation. User then selects from the list the desired character. There are variations of this input method; most are designed for Chinese speakers who wish to type as fast as possible. For beginners, most of those "improvements" will actually slow one down.

We�ll use the online Pinyin input tool to explain this method. Click here to start the online tool. Note the online program runs JavaScript. If your browser security setting does not allow JavaScript, you may need to enable it.

Start by typing the Pinyin for 中文, which is zhong1 wen2. When type the input, ignore the tunes, i.e., you will be inputting "zhong wen." As you type, you will find the menu on the right displays a list of Chinese characters numbered from 1 to 10. At anytime, you can select a character by inputting the number for a character. For example, typing "zho1" gets 中; typing "zhon1" gets 中; and typing "zhong1" also gets 中. This of course means less typing.

It gets even better --- users can some times continue typing to get phrases. For example, by typing "zhongw" you bring up a list of phrases that include "中文."

There are many tricks to speed up typing: for example, in NJStar software, one can type "zhw" for "中文." For beginners these tricks are not necessarily good things. As your Chinese typing skills improve, you will find that they greatly increase your typing speed.

A note for the phonic sound "�", Pinyin input may replace it with "v" or "uu", depending on the program you use.