大 meaning and stroke order
Big; large; great; older (than another person); eldest (as in 大姐[da4 jie3])
How to write 大, stroke by stroke
3 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
- 2
- 3
Meaning of 大
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- big; large; great
- older (than another person)
- eldest (as in 大姐[da4 jie3])
- greatly; freely; fully
- (dialect) father
- (dialect) uncle (father's brother)
- see 大夫[dai4 fu5]
How 大 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. A man 人 with outstretched arms.
How to remember 大
大 (dà) is a person 人 stretching both arms out wide, shown by the line 一 across the body. Picture someone spreading their arms to show how big something is.
大 describes size, age, and degree, and it appears in many everyday words like 大学 (dàxué, university) and 大家 (dàjiā, everyone). It can also mean older, as in 大姐 (dàjiě, eldest sister). Example: 这个苹果很大。(Zhège píngguǒ hěn dà.) This apple is very big.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 大 (dà, big) with 太 (tài, too), which has an extra dot, and with 犬 (quǎn, dog), which has a dot at the upper right. Also note that 大夫 meaning doctor is read dàifu, not dàfū.
Common words with 大
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 大学 | dàxué | university; college | HSK 1 |
| 大学生 | dàxuéshēng | university student; college student | HSK 1 |
| 不大 | bù dà | not very (clear, far away etc); not too; not often; infrequently | HSK 1 |
| 大家 | dàjiā | everyone; influential family | HSK 2 |
| 大人 | dàren | adult; grownup | HSK 2 |
| 长大 | zhǎngdà | to grow up | HSK 2 |
| 大部分 | dàbùfen | the greater part; the majority; most; Taiwan pr. [da4bu4fen4] | HSK 2 |
| 大声 | dà shēng | loud voice; in a loud voice | HSK 2 |
| 大量 | dàliàng | great amount; large quantity | HSK 2 |
| 大多数 | dàduōshù | (great) majority | HSK 2 |
| 大海 | dàhǎi | sea; ocean | HSK 2 |
| 大门 | dàmén | entrance; door | HSK 2 |
| 大小 | dàxiǎo | large and small; size | HSK 2 |
| 大自然 | dàzìrán | nature (the natural world) | HSK 2 |
大 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 大
Learning 大 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 大
How many strokes are in 大?
大 is written with 3 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 大 mean?
大 (dà) means big; large; great; older (than another person); eldest (as in 大姐[da4 jie3]). A common word with it is 大学 (dàxué), meaning "university; college".
How do you pronounce 大?
大 is pronounced dà, in the fourth tone (falling).
Is 大 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 大 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.
How do you ask someone's age using 大?
You can say 你多大？(Nǐ duō dà?) to ask how old someone is. It works for adults and older children. For young children, people usually say 你几岁？(Nǐ jǐ suì?).
What is the opposite of 大?
The opposite is 小 (xiǎo), meaning small or young. The pair appears together in words like 大小 (dàxiǎo), which means size.