Getting started

How to read a Tomyo answer

The core of an answer is the Chinese phrase with pinyin, a translation and audio. Below it come a word-by-word breakdown and a short explanation. If you asked how to say something, a simpler version may appear as well — built from words already in your dictionary.

The phrase

The card at the top is the whole answer: characters, pinyin and translation. The audio button plays the phrase.

If you asked how to say something, the translation under the phrase is a back-translation: it shows what the Chinese phrase actually says. It is a quick way to make sure no meaning was lost.

The words on the card can be tapped: a hint opens with a translation and a button that adds the word to your dictionary.

Word breakdown

Each word of the phrase gets its own line: characters, pinyin and meaning. The meaning is the dictionary one, in its base form — the same as on the word card, not the role the word plays in this phrase. Particles get a description of the job they do instead of a translation.

If you have given a word your own translation, the breakdown shows yours.

Tap a word to open its card, with examples and a button to add it to your dictionary. The back arrow returns you to the answer.

Explanation

A sentence or two about the most useful thing to notice: a particle, word order, a set phrase, a measure word. When you asked how to say something, the section is called “Why it is said this way”; when you asked about a Chinese text, it is “What to notice”. For a question about a specific word, this is where the answer goes.

You can already say it like this

This section only appears in answers to “how do I say”. It is the same idea built from the words in your dictionary, so you can say it right now without waiting to learn new words.

It does not always appear, and that is expected. Tomyo shows a simpler version only when every word in it is in your dictionary and the meaning survives in full. A version that has lost the key word is worse than none.

The verdict

If you asked to check your own sentence, a verdict line appears above the card. When it is right, it reads “Correct, that’s how it’s said”. When it is not, it shows what you wrote, and the card holds the corrected sentence.

What was wrong, and which rule applies, is explained under the breakdown.

What to do if…

There is no “You can already say it like this” section

That means the idea cannot be built in full from the words in your dictionary, or the main phrase already uses only those words. Answers about a Chinese text never have this section. Add words from the breakdown to your dictionary and a simpler version will turn up more often.

A word has no button to add it to the dictionary

That word is not in the Tomyo dictionary: most often it is a name, a title or a rare word. Its card opens with what is known from the breakdown, but you cannot add it to your own dictionary.

A word’s meaning in the breakdown does not match the phrase

That is by design: the breakdown gives the dictionary meaning in its base form, so it matches the word card. The meaning of the whole phrase is in the translation under it.