We uses Pinyin ( which is constituted by different combinations of alphabet) and tone marks (there are 4 tones in mandarine, and I have heard that Cantonese have even 9 tones....lukily, I dont need to learn it :p) to help recognize the prounanciation and type Chinese characters. For example: 水 （water), Pinyin: Shui tone:3 . So when I type 水，I only need to type shui, then it gives me many options including the same prounciations with different tones, all I need to do is to choose the right character
