踢 (tī): to kick

Meanings

1 to kick
2 to play (football/soccer)

Characters

踢

ti

to kick

Examples

别踢我！

Bié tī wǒ!

Don't kick me!

他每个周末都去踢足球。

Tā měigè zhōumò dōu qù tī zúqiú.

He plays soccer every weekend.

他一脚踢开了门。

Tā yī jiǎo tī kāi le mén.

He kicked the door open.

小心别踢到桌子腿。

Xiǎoxīn bié tī dào zhuōzi tuǐ.

Be careful not to kick the table leg.

Tips

usage

In Chinese you 踢 football (kick it) but 打 basketball and 打 volleyball (hit them). The verb matches the primary body action of the sport.

memory

足 (foot) radical + 易 (easy) — easy with the foot, a natural kicking motion.

Components

radical

足 zú

foot; leg (radical)

Left radical 足 — a foot drawn with the ankle on top and toes below. Marks 踢 as a foot action and groups it with the large 足-family of leg verbs: 跑 (run), 跳 (jump), 跪 (kneel), 路 (road). When 足 sits on the left it compresses slightly while keeping its full stroke count.

phonetic

易 yì

easy; change (phonetic)

Right phonetic 易 supplies the sound (yì → tī, a heavy drift but historically related). Same phonetic appears in 锡 (tin) and 赐 (bestow). 易 originally pictured a lizard or a sun above flowing rays, but here it functions purely as a sound marker rather than a meaning contributor.