Chinese punctuation rules checker (GB/T 15834-2011 standard). Paste text → auto-detects ASCII vs fullwidth issues, multiple punctuation runs, ASCII ellipsis + one-click auto-fix.
Chinese Punctuation Rules Checker (中文标点规范)
How to use
Paste Chinese text
Any text containing Chinese characters works. Mixed Chinese-English also fine.
Click "Check punctuation"
The tool scans for: ASCII halfwidth punctuation, multiple-punctuation runs, ASCII ellipsis (...), CJK-English spacing, etc.
Review results
Results grouped by severity (Error / Warning / Info). Each shows count, samples, and explanation.
One-click auto-fix
Click "Auto-fix" to convert all ASCII punctuation to fullwidth Chinese punctuation. Fixed text is ready to copy.
GB/T 15834 — China's Chinese Punctuation Standard
China's national standard GB/T 15834-2011 "Use of Punctuation Marks", in force since 1 June 2012, defines 17 marks: seven pause marks (。 ？ ！ ， 、 ； ：) and ten others, including quotation marks “”, brackets （）, the dash ——, the ellipsis ……, the interpunct · and title marks 《》.
5 most common errors
(1) A half-width comma (,) between Chinese characters should be the full-width 「，」. (2) A half-width full stop (.) should be 「。」. (3) Three ASCII dots (...) should be 「……」 (two U+2026, six dots). (4) Too many stacked marks: the standard allows up to three question or exclamation marks for strong emotion (4.2.3.3, 4.3.3.3), and ？！ together; full stops are never stacked. (5) Straight ASCII quotes ("") should be curly “” in mainland style, or 「」 in Taiwan style.
"The real reason for fullwidth: Chinese characters are square. Halfwidth (50% width) breaks visual rhythm next to Chinese; fullwidth (100% width) maintains a unified grid."
Regional adoption
Taiwan has its own standard, the Ministry of Education's Revised Handbook of Punctuation (2008): 15 marks, 「」 as the first quotation marks, and full stops and commas centred in the character cell — against bottom-left on the mainland. On screen both use the same characters; the position comes from the font. Hong Kong's government writing manual refers readers to GB/T 15834. For Singapore and Malaysia we found no official punctuation standard. This tool checks against GB/T 15834.
Practical tips
(1) Input method switching: Chinese IME defaults to fullwidth, English IME defaults to halfwidth — don't mix. (2) Content copy-pasted from English documents must be fixed. (3) WeChat / Weibo / Moments are lenient, but formal documents (resumes, contracts, emails) must comply.
The Chinese ellipsis is six dots and the dash is two
Classical Chinese was not unpunctuated: readers added their own 句读 marks — a dot or circle beside a character at a sentence end, a dot at a pause. A proposal for modern marks, signed by Hu Shi and others, came in November 1919, and the education ministry ordered their use in February 1920.
The round full stop 「。」 is older than the 1919 reform: the traditional mark added beside a character at a sentence end was a small circle or dot. The new marks kept that shape rather than adopting the Western ".".
Quotation marks differ by place: the mainland standard uses “”; Taiwan's handbook puts 「」 first and 『』 inside; Hong Kong's government writing manual refers to the mainland standard and uses “” in its examples, while 「」 is still common in Hong Kong print.
The Chinese ellipsis is SIX dots (……) not three. Correct encoding: U+2026 × 2.
"!!!" or "???" chains violate GB/T 15834. The standard permits only one per sentence.
"&" has no Chinese equivalent — should be replaced with 「与」 or 「和」.
《》 book title marks are unique to Chinese — marking books, films, articles. English uses italics or quotes instead.
「、」 (enumeration comma) is unique to Chinese — used for listed single characters/words (e.g. 红、橙、黄、绿). English uses regular commas.
The Chinese em-dash is TWO fullwidth dashes (——), not one. Used for thought breaks / inline notes.
Singapore and Malaysia: we found no officially published Chinese punctuation standard in either. Both use simplified characters; this tool checks against the mainland's GB/T 15834.
Frequently Asked Questions
(1) ASCII halfwidth punctuation (, . ? ! : ; ") in Chinese context; (2) Punctuation chains (!!! ???); (3) ASCII ellipsis (...) replacing Chinese (……); (4) Missing CJK-English spaces (info-level).
No. It only replaces punctuation (halfwidth → fullwidth). Content and sentence structure are completely preserved.
No. All checking and fixing runs in your browser. Your text never leaves your device.
Quotes require human judgment (open vs close) — the tool flags but does not auto-fix them. Manually replace with 「」 or 「""」.
China's national standard "Use of Punctuation Marks" — published 2011, effective June 2012. All professional Chinese publications, textbooks, contracts should comply.
Taiwan has its own standard: the Ministry of Education's Revised Handbook of Punctuation (2008), with 「」 as the first quotation marks and full stops and commas centred. Hong Kong's government writing manual refers readers to the mainland's GB/T 15834. All three use full-width marks.
Not strictly. Daily chats, no one cares. But formal documents (resumes, contracts, emails, reports, publications) must comply.
Because the standards say so: GB/T 15834-2011 defines the ellipsis as six dots, 「……」, taking two character spaces (5.1.5), and Taiwan's handbook also gives it two spaces. Three ASCII dots are not a Chinese ellipsis.
The national standard GB/T 15834-2011 "Use of Punctuation Marks", proposed by the Ministry of Education's department for language information, drafted at Peking University, in force from 1 June 2012.
Yes. All RECATOOLS tools are 100% free, ad-supported.
Pick up where you left off
Stored only in this browser — never sent to our servers.