提笔 (tíbǐ): to take up one's pen

Meanings

1 to take up one's pen
2 to start to write
3 to put pen to paper

Characters

提

Examples

他提笔写下了第一行字。

Tā tíbǐ xiě xià le dì yī háng zì.

He took up his pen and wrote the first line.

我每次想给她写信，却又提笔难下。

Wǒ měi cì xiǎng gěi tā xiě xìn, què yòu tíbǐ nán xià.

Every time I want to write her a letter, I can't put pen to paper.

Tips

usage

Common in literary contexts and formal letters. The set phrase 提笔忘字 (tíbǐ wàng zì, 'pick up the pen and forget the character') is now widely used to describe the modern phenomenon of forgetting how to handwrite Chinese after relying on pinyin input.