Pinyin

Pinyin is a way to write Chinese words using the English alphabet. It was created to help people who don't speak Chinese learn how to say and write Chinese words.

Let's say you want to write the Chinese word for "hello," which is spelled "你好" in Chinese characters. In pinyin, it is written as "nǐ hǎo."

The letters in pinyin have different symbols above them, which show you how to say the word. For example, the "ǐ" in "nǐ" has a little hat symbol above it, which means you say the letter "i" with your tongue closer to the roof of your mouth.

Pinyin also helps you know which Chinese character to use for each sound in the word. For example, "nǐ" is made up of two characters: "你" and "儿." Pinyin helps you know which characters to use so that you write the word correctly.

Overall, pinyin is a tool that helps people who don't speak Chinese learn how to pronounce and write Chinese words.