Meaning
sky; heaven; day
Chinese: 天空、自然、日子或时间。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “tian” becomes a different word in each tone. 天 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
- 今天jīn tiāntoday; the present time; now
- 明天míng tiāntomorrow
- 昨天zuó tiānyesterday
- 天气tiān qìweather
- 白天bái tiāndaytime; during the day; day
Example Sentence
今天的天空很蓝，风也很轻。Jīn tiān de tiān kōng hěn lán, fēng yě hěn qīng.The sky is very blue today, and the wind is gentle.
今天Jīn tiāntoday的deof天空tiān kōngsky很hěnvery蓝lánblue，风fēngwind也yěalso很hěnvery轻qīnglight。
Memory Note
Think of the top stroke as the space above a person. That helps connect 天 with sky or heaven.
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
Originally a standing person (大) with the head marked by a line on top. The meaning moved from ‘the head/the top’ to the sky and the heavens above.
A way to remember it
The flat top line is the sky, stretching over a person standing below.
Easy to confuse with
- 夫‘Husband / grown man’: the top stroke pokes through, like a hairpin in an adult’s hair.