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天 (tiān) — (noun) sky; (noun) day; 24-hour period; (classifier) used before a number to count days

Definition

At HSK 1, 天 covers two main uses: the sky (跟 天空 same meaning, but 天 is the short everyday word) and 'day' as a 24-hour period or a measure for days. 日 also means 'day' but is more formal/written and used in dates.

noun
skyday24-hour period
classifier
used before a number to count days
Easily confused

Examples

  • 天，。
    tiān Hěn dà, méi yǒu yún.
    The sky is very big, with no clouds.
  • 天。
    Yí gè xīng qī yǒu qī tiān.
    There are seven days in a week.
  • 。
    Wǒ kàn le sān tiān shū.
    I read books for three days.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
大大dà
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng天tiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for sound.

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 1500 Most Frequent Chinese Words1000 Most Frequent Chinese WordsDays & WeeksSky & Space2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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