Meaning
winter
Chinese: 冬天。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “dong” becomes a different word in each tone. 冬 is the 1st tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 冬天dōng tiānwinter
- 冬季dōng jìwinter
- 过冬guò dōngto get through the winter
- 冬日dōng rìwintertime
- 门冬mén dōngabbr. for 天门冬, asparagus
Example Sentence
冬天到了，天气越来越冷。Dōng tiān dào le, tiān qì yuè lái yuè lěng.Winter has come, and the weather is getting colder and colder.
冬天Dōng tiānwinter到了dào leat last，天气tiān qìweather越来越yuè lái yuèmore and more冷lěngcold。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
A knotted cord (marking the end of the year) over the ice strokes 冫: the cold season at year’s end — ‘winter’.
A way to remember it
Ice (冫) at the foot of the year — winter.
Easy to confuse with
- 冷‘Cold’: the ice strokes 冫 are on the LEFT, with 令 beside them.