TraceHanzi

体 meaning and stroke order

tǐ

Body; group, class; form, style, system

HSK 17 strokesRadical 亻Traditional 體
Strokes7
Pinyintǐ
ToneTone 3
Frequency#232
Printable worksheetPractice all HSK 1 characters

How to write 体, stroke by stroke

7 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7

Meaning of 体

Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.

tǐthird tone (dipping)
  1. body
  2. form
  3. style
  4. system
  5. substance
  6. to experience
tīfirst tone (high and level)
  1. used in 體己|体己[ti1 ji5]
  2. Taiwan pr. [ti3]

How 体 is built

Components of the character.

rénman+běnroot

Radical: 亻 (man), shared by 277 characters on this site.

How to remember 体

体 is a person 亻 next to 本 (běn), which means root or origin. Think of your body as the root of who you are as a person.

体 rarely stands alone in modern speech. It appears in many common words such as 身体 (shēntǐ, body or health), 体育 (tǐyù, sports), and 具体 (jùtǐ, specific). Example: 你身体好吗？ (Nǐ shēntǐ hǎo ma?) How is your health?

Common mistake: Learners often confuse 体 with 休 (xiū, to rest), which is 亻 plus 木 (tree). 体 has an extra short horizontal stroke near the bottom of the right side, making it 本, not 木.

Common words with 体

Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.

WordPinyinMeaningLevel
身体shēntǐthe body; one's healthHSK 1
全体quántǐall; entireHSK 2
体育tǐyùsports; physical educationHSK 2
体育馆tǐyùguǎngym; gymnasiumHSK 2
体育场tǐyùchǎngstadiumHSK 2
媒体méitǐmedia, esp. news mediaHSK 3
具体jùtǐconcrete; specific; detailedHSK 3
体验tǐyànto experience for oneselfHSK 3
团体tuántǐgroup; organizationHSK 3
体会tǐhuìto know from experience; to learn through experienceHSK 3
集体jítǐcollective (decision); joint (effort)HSK 3
整体zhěngtǐwhole; entirety; overall; whole; generalHSK 3
体现tǐxiànto embody; to reflectHSK 3
体重tǐzhòngbody weightHSK 4

体 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

如rú果guǒ不bù多duō运yùn动dòng，你nǐ身shēn体tǐ就jiù不bù好hǎo。
If you don’t do more exercise, you’ll be unhealthy.
Tom需xū要yào让ràng身shēn体tǐ好hǎo起qǐ来lái。
Tom needs to get into shape.
没méi人rén体tǐ会huì我wǒ的de感gǎn受shòu。
Nobody knows how I feel.
当dāng时shí人rén们men就jiù知zhī道dào，地dì球qiú是shì个gè球qiú体tǐ。
Then people knew, that the world is a sphere.
他tā每měi天tiān跑pǎo步bù，所suǒ以yǐ身shēn体tǐ很hěn好hǎo。
He runs every day so he is very healthy.

Questions about 体

How many strokes are in 体?

体 is written with 7 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.

What does 体 mean?

体 (tǐ) means body; group, class; form, style, system. A common word with it is 身体 (shēntǐ), meaning "the body; one's health".

How do you pronounce 体?

体 is pronounced tǐ, in the third tone (dipping).

What is the radical of 体?

The radical of 体 is 亻, which carries the idea of "man". Dictionaries list 体 under this radical.

What is the traditional form of 体?

The traditional form of 体 is 體. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 体 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.

Is 体 on the HSK exam?

Yes. 体 is part of the HSK 1 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 1.

Does 身体 mean body or health?

It can mean both. 身体 is the physical body, but in questions like 你身体怎么样？ (Nǐ shēntǐ zěnmeyàng?) it means how is your health.

When is 体 pronounced tī instead of tǐ?

Only in the word 体己 (tīji), meaning intimate or private savings, and even there Taiwan uses tǐ. In almost all other words it is tǐ, third tone.

Keep going

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