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天

tiān
noun HSK 1 #88

Meanings

  1. 1 day
  2. 2 sky
  3. 3 heaven

Characters

天
tiān
sky; heaven; day
One stroke 一 above person 大 — what is above a person is the sky.

Examples

今天天气很好。
Jīntiān tiānqì hěn hǎo.
The weather is nice today.
天很蓝。
Tiān hěn lán.
The sky is very blue.
一天有二十四个小时。
Yì tiān yǒu èrshísì ge xiǎoshí.
A day has 24 hours.

Tips

memory
天 shows a person (大) with a line above their head — the sky above.
culture
天 (heaven) is central to Chinese philosophy. The 天子 (Son of Heaven) was the emperor's title, claiming divine authority.

Components

radical
大 dà
big; person standing
Person figure underneath — head touched by the sky stroke above. The whole bottom three strokes are 大 verbatim.
ideograph
一 yī
the heavens above
Top horizontal — sits above the person's head, pointing at what is overhead: the sky.

Stroke Order

天 tiān