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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

HSK 1
今天天气很好。
Jīntiān tiānqì hěn hǎo.
The weather is nice today.
HSK 1
一天有二十四个小时。
Yì tiān yǒu èrshísì ge xiǎoshí.
A day has 24 hours.
HSK 3
天很蓝。
Tiān hěn lán.
The sky is very blue.

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