添

tiān
verb HSK 6 #5,187

Meanings

  1. 1 to add; to increase
  2. 2 to append; to supplement

Examples

HSK 4
Bié gěi wǒ tiānmáfan le.
Don't cause me more trouble.
HSK 5
Jiālǐ tiān le yígè xiǎobǎobao.
A new baby has been added to the family.
HSK 6
Xīn zhèngcè wèi qǐyè de fāzhǎn tiān le huólì.
The new policy added vitality to the development of enterprises.

Tips

usage
添 vs 加 (jiā): both mean 'to add,' but 添 often implies supplementing what's already there, while 加 is more neutral. 添麻烦 (cause trouble), 添乱 (add to confusion) are common set phrases.
memory
氵(water) + 忝 (tiǎn, phonetic). Think of adding water to fill something up.

Components

radical
氵 shuǐ
water (radical form)
Three-drop water radical on the left - the indexing radical. The original sense of 添 was 'to add water until a vessel is full,' so adding liquid is the prototypical act of supplementing. From there the meaning generalized to any kind of addition or supplement, even abstract ones.
phonetic
忝 tiǎn
to disgrace (here phonetic)
Right component 忝 supplies the sound: tiǎn → tiān with only a tone shift. The 'disgrace, shame' meaning of 忝 has nothing to do with adding - pure phonetic loan. Same phonetic in 舔 tiǎn (to lick), so the tian/tiǎn family clusters tightly.

Stroke Order

添 tiān