Mandarin alphabet 

基础知识——basic knowledge

1) 拼音的结构
Pinyin is made by initial, vowel and some syllables that you should recognize and read as a whole.
23 initials(声母) :b p m f d t n l g k h j q x zh ch sh r z c s w y
24 vowels(韵母)
Single vowels(单韵母):a o e i u ǔ
Compound vowels(复韵母)：ai ei ui ao ou iu ie ǖe er
Alveolar nasal vowels(前鼻韵母)：an en in un ǔn
Velar nasal vowels(后鼻韵母)：ang eng ing ong
Syllables to be recognized and read as a whole(整体认读音节)： zhi chi shi ri zi ci si yi wu yu ye yue yin yun yuan ying

2) 正确标音—– phonetic notation in a correct way
Let me tell you some formulas of phonetic notation.
1 Find the “a” and mark on it first, if there is not any “a”, then mark the “o” or “e” (包bāo 剖pōu)
2 If there are “i” and “u” in the same syllable, mark the later one. (秀xiù 会 huì)
3 Marking an “i”, you should not write its point again, just tones.

3) 拼写省写规则—ü ‘s writing rules
ü is a special alphabet in pinyin. It is a kind of the beginning of vowels with some rules in writing.
When it follows the “j” “q” “x”, we should write it as “u”, without two points. (剧 jù)
But when it follows the “n” and “l”, we can’t write it as “u”, we must write “ü”. Because “lu” and “nu” have their own syllables and characters. (绿 lǜ 路 lù)

书写差异——writing difference
Although Chinese pinyin and English alphabet are similar, there are some differences between their writings.
Almost all the first stroke of handwriting in English will be deleted in pinyin. Such as “w, v, y, r, p”.
And almost all the tails should be a straight line to end the word. Such as ” f, p, q”

汉语拼音字母表—–mandarin alphabet chart