天 meaning and stroke order
Day; sky; heaven
How to write 天, stroke by stroke
4 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
- 4
Meaning of 天
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- day
- sky
- heaven
How 天 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. The heavens 一 above a man 大.
Radical: 大 (big), shared by 46 characters on this site.
How to remember 天
A person standing with arms and legs spread out is 大 (dà), and the line 一 above his head is the sky. So 天 (tiān) is the heavens over a person.
天 means both "sky" and "day," and the "day" sense is the one you will use most, in words like 今天 (jīntiān), 明天 (míngtiān) and 昨天 (zuótiān). It also counts days directly without a measure word. Example: 我在北京住了三天。(Wǒ zài Běijīng zhù le sān tiān.) I stayed in Beijing for three days.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 天 with 夫 (fū, husband), where the top line pokes through above the head. In 天 the top stroke is a separate line sitting on top and nothing sticks out above it.
Common words with 天
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 今天 | jīntiān | today; the present time; now | HSK 1 |
| 明天 | míngtiān | tomorrow | HSK 1 |
| 昨天 | zuótiān | yesterday | HSK 1 |
| 天气 | tiānqì | weather | HSK 1 |
| 白天 | báitiān | daytime; during the day | HSK 1 |
| 星期天 | xīngqītiān | Sunday | HSK 1 |
| 后天 | hòutiān | the day after tomorrow; life after birth (the period in which one develops through experie | HSK 1 |
| 半天 | bàntiān | half of the day; a long time | HSK 1 |
| 前天 | qiántiān | the day before yesterday | HSK 1 |
| 夏天 | xiàtiān | summer | HSK 2 |
| 春天 | chūntiān | spring (season) | HSK 2 |
| 冬天 | dōngtiān | winter | HSK 2 |
| 天上 | tiānshàng | the sky; the heavens | HSK 2 |
| 秋天 | qiūtiān | autumn | HSK 2 |
天 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 天
Learning 天 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 天
How many strokes are in 天?
天 is written with 4 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 天 mean?
天 (tiān) means day; sky; heaven. A common word with it is 今天 (jīntiān), meaning "today; the present time; now".
How do you pronounce 天?
天 is pronounced tiān, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 天?
The radical of 天 is 大, which carries the idea of "big". Dictionaries list 天 under this radical.
Is 天 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 天 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.
Do I need a measure word like 个 with 天?
No. 天 works as its own measure word, so say 两天 (liǎng tiān, two days), not 两个天. The same is true for 年 (nián, year).
Why does 天 appear in 天气 (weather)?
天 here keeps its sky meaning, and 气 (qì) means air. Weather is literally "the air of the sky," as in 今天天气很好 (jīntiān tiānqì hěn hǎo), the weather is nice today.