弟 (dì): younger brother, junior male, I (modest word in letter)
弟 (dì) is a Chinese character meaning “younger brother.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 丷 (structural) and 弓 (structural). It ranks #816 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Definitions
- younger brother
- junior male
- I (modest word in letter)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 弟 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 弟
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 老弟noun | lǎo dì | (affectionate form of address for a male who is not very much younger than oneself) my boy |
| 弟兄noun | dì xiong | brothers |
| 表弟noun | biǎo dì | younger male cousin through a female relative |
| 小弟noun | xiǎo dì | little brother |
| 堂弟noun | táng dì | younger male patrilineal cousin |
| 子弟noun | zǐ dì | child |
| 表兄弟noun | biǎo xiōng dì | male cousin through a female relative |
| 弟子noun | dì zǐ | disciple |
| 堂兄弟noun | táng xiōng dì | father's brother's sons |
| 纨绔子弟noun | wán kù zǐ dì | (idiom) hedonistic son of rich parents |
| 弟妹noun | dì mèi | younger sibling |
| 阿弟noun | ā dì | younger brother |
| 师弟noun | shī dì | young disciple (of the same master) |
| 弟媳noun | dì xí | younger brother's wife |
| 难兄难弟phrase | nàn xiōng nàn dì | (idiom) companions in hardship |
弟 appears in 67 compound words: 10 as the first character, 69 as the last, and 21 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 弟 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (11)
hard to tell who is better; to be as good; equally-matched two; of the same ilk; to be both bad
elder brother, younger brother, elder sister and younger sister; brothers and sisters; siblings
Example Sentences
学习弟字需要反复练习，才能写得工整。
xué xí dì zì xū yāo fǎn fù liàn xí , cái néng xiě dé gōng zhěng .
Mastering the character "弟" requires repeated practice to write it neatly.
Netflix不玩了!放弃收购华纳兄弟 盘后股价大涨近10%
N e t f l i x bù wán le ! fàng qì shōu gòu huá nà xiōng dì pán hòu gǔ jià dà zhǎng jìn 1 0
Netflix is not playing! Abandoned the acquisition of Warner Bros., and the stock price rose nearly 10% after hours
古城北平新生从新春开始——人民子弟兵庄严入城
gǔ chéng běi píng xīn shēng cóng xīn chūn kāi shǐ — — rén mín zǐ dì bīng zhuāng yán rù chéng
The new life of the ancient city of Peiping began in the New Year - the people's children and soldiers solemnly entered the city
拒绝加价:Netflix 放弃收购华纳兄弟
jù jué jiā jià : N e t f l i x fàng qì shōu gòu huá nà xiōng dì
Refusal of price increases: Netflix abandons acquisition of Warner Bros
华纳兄弟探索据悉考虑重启与Paramount的谈...
huá nà xiōng dì tàn suǒ jù xī kǎo lǜ chóng qǐ yǔ P a r a m o u n t de tán . . .
Warner Bros. Discovery is reportedly considering restarting talks with Paramount...
子弟兵给您送祝福啦,快来签收!
zǐ dì bīng gěi nín sòng zhù fú lā , kuài lái qiān shōu !
The soldiers send you blessings, come and sign it!"
你有多少个兄弟姊妹？
Nǐ yǒu duōshao gè xiōngdì zǐmèi?
How many siblings do you have?
你见到的是两兄弟中的哪一个？
Nǐ jiàndào de shì liǎng xiōngdì zhōng de nǎyīge?
Which one of the two brothers did you see?
为什么我的兄弟是笨蛋？
Wèishénme wǒ de xiōngdì shì bèndàn?
Why is my brother stupid?
你发生什么事了，兄弟？
Nǐ fāshēng shénmeshì le, xiōngdì?
What happened to you, man?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 弟 (dì) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 弟 and 母?
How many strokes does 弟 have?
What is the radical of 弟?
What are the components of 弟?
What are common words containing 弟?
What characters sound the same as 弟 (dì)?
Is 弟 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 弟 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.