Jyutping converter — Chinese text to Cantonese pronunciation
Paste any Chinese text and get its Jyutping romanization instantly — tones colour-coded, with every word linked to a full dictionary entry with audio and example sentences. Works with traditional and simplified characters.
What is Jyutping?
Jyutping (粵拼) is the standard romanization system for Cantonese, created by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong in 1993. Unlike Mandarin pinyin, Jyutping is designed for the sounds of Cantonese as spoken in Hong Kong: each syllable is written with Latin letters followed by a tone number from 1 to 6.
For example, 你好 (hello) is written nei5 hou2 — the 5 and 2 tell you the pitch contour of each syllable. Getting the tones right is essential in Cantonese, since the same syllable with a different tone is a completely different word.
The six Cantonese tones
- 1High levelsi1 詩 (poem)
- 2High risingsi2 史 (history)
- 3Mid levelsi3 試 (to try)
- 4Low fallingsi4 時 (time)
- 5Low risingsi5 市 (market)
- 6Low levelsi6 事 (matter)
The converter colour-codes each syllable by tone, so you can read the melody of a sentence at a glance.
Frequently asked questions
What is Jyutping?
Jyutping (粵拼) is the romanization system for Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong in 1993. It writes each Cantonese syllable with Latin letters plus a tone number from 1 to 6, e.g. 你好 becomes nei5 hou2.
How does this Jyutping converter work?
Paste or type Chinese text (traditional or simplified) and the converter segments it into words, looks each one up in our dictionary of 150,000+ Cantonese entries, and shows the Jyutping above every character with tones colour-coded. Tap any word to open its full dictionary entry with audio and example sentences.
Does the converter work with simplified Chinese?
Yes. Both traditional and simplified characters are supported. Results are shown in the characters you typed, and each word links to its dictionary entry.
What do the Jyutping tone numbers mean?
Cantonese has six tones. Tone 1 is high level, tone 2 high rising, tone 3 mid level, tone 4 low falling, tone 5 low rising, and tone 6 low level. The converter colour-codes each syllable by tone so you can read the melody of a sentence at a glance.
Can I share a converted text with someone else?
Yes. After converting, click "Copy share link" — the link reopens the converter with the same text already converted, so classmates, students, or friends see the identical Jyutping annotation instantly. You can also hide the Jyutping first and share the text as a reading exercise.
Is this Cantonese pronunciation tool free?
Yes, completely free with no account required. You can convert up to 5,000 characters at a time, and every converted word links to a free dictionary entry with audio pronunciation.
Keep learning Cantonese
The converter is just the start — HKDictionary has 150,000+ entries with audio, themed word lists, flashcards, and a structured course.