灯 meaning and stroke order
Lamp; light; lantern
How to write 灯, stroke by stroke
6 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
- 5
- 6
Meaning of 灯
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- lamp
- light
- lantern
How 灯 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Fire.
火 gives the meaning and 丁 hints at the sound.
Radical: 火 (fire), shared by 128 characters on this site.
How to remember 灯
灯 is pictophonetic: 火 (fire) on the left gives the meaning, and 丁 (dīng) on the right hints at the sound dēng. Picture a flame burning on top of a nail-shaped post, like an old lamp.
灯 appears in many everyday words for lights, such as 电灯 (diàndēng) electric light, 台灯 (táidēng) desk lamp, and 路灯 (lùdēng) street lamp. To switch a light on or off, use 开 (kāi) and 关 (guān). Example: 请把灯关了。(Qǐng bǎ dēng guān le.) Please turn off the light.
Common mistake: Learners often write the right side as 了 or 子 instead of 丁, or mix up 灯 with 打 (dǎ), which has the same 丁 but with the hand radical 扌. Also keep the tone flat and high: dēng, not děng (等, to wait).
Common words with 灯
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 灯光 | dēngguāng | (stage) lighting; light | HSK 4 |
| 电灯 | diàndēng | electric light | HSK 4 |
| 台灯 | táidēng | desk lamp; table lamp | HSK 6 |
| 红灯 | hóngdēng | red light | HSK 7-9 |
| 灯泡 | dēngpào | light bulb; see also 電燈泡|电灯泡[dian4 deng1 pao4] | HSK 7-9 |
| 绿灯 | lǜdēng | green light (traffic signal); (fig.) permission to proceed | HSK 7-9 |
| 灯笼 | dēnglong | lantern | HSK 7-9 |
| 路灯 | lùdēng | street lamp; street light | HSK 7-9 |
| 张灯结彩 | zhāngdēng-jiécǎi | to be decorated with lanterns and colored banners (idiom) | HSK 7-9 |
| 开灯 | kāidēng | to turn on the light | |
| 灯塔 | dēngtǎ | lighthouse | |
| 熄灯 | xīdēng | turn out the lights; lights out | |
| 聚光灯 | jùguāngdēng | spotlight | |
| 车灯 | chēdēng | vehicle light (headlight, turn indicator etc) |
灯 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 灯
How many strokes are in 灯?
灯 is written with 6 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 灯 mean?
灯 (dēng) means lamp; light; lantern. A common word with it is 灯光 (dēngguāng), meaning "(stage) lighting; light".
How do you pronounce 灯?
灯 is pronounced dēng, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 灯?
The radical of 灯 is 火, which carries the idea of "fire". Dictionaries list 灯 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 灯?
The traditional form of 灯 is 燈. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 灯 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 灯 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 灯 is part of the HSK 2 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 2.
How do you say turn on the light in Chinese?
Say 开灯 (kāi dēng) for turn on the light and 关灯 (guān dēng) for turn off the light. You can also say 把灯打开 (bǎ dēng dǎkāi).
What does 开绿灯 mean besides traffic lights?
绿灯 (lǜdēng) is a green light, and 开绿灯 (kāi lǜdēng) figuratively means to give permission or let something go ahead. 红灯 (hóngdēng) is a red light, and 闯红灯 (chuǎng hóngdēng) means to run a red light.