苔 (tái): used in 舌苔, moss, lichen, liverwort

苔 (tái) is a Chinese character meaning “used in 舌苔.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 艹 (semantic) and 台 (phonetic). It ranks #3390 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 苔 plant. Its radical form 艹 (grass) appears in many related characters such as 蒸 (zhēng, to steam), 草 (cǎo, grass), 花 (huā, flower).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. used in 舌苔
  2. moss
  3. lichen
  4. liverwort

Etymology & Origin

苔

pictophoneticplant

Decomposition: ⿱艹台 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Practice writing 苔 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
苔藓tái xiǎnmoss
苔原nountái yuántundra
青苔nounqīng táimoss
舌苔nounshé tāi(TCM) coating on the tongue (examined for the purpose of diagnosis)
生苔shēng táimossy
海苔hǎi táinori
银苔yín táimoss silver
叶苔yè táiliverwort (Jungermannia lanceolata)
绿苔lǜ táigreen algae
紫菜苔zǐ cài táivariant of 紫菜薹
藓苔xiǎn táimoss
蒜苔suàn táivariant of 蒜薹
12
Total compounds
17
As first character
83
As last character
0
As middle character

苔 appears in 12 compound words: 17 as the first character, 83 as the last, and 0 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Example Sentences

少数派Sep 2026

铁轨消失了,枕木也不见了,原来的路基铺满落叶和碎石,青苔顺着混凝土一点点向上生长。

tiě guǐ xiāo shī le , zhěn mù yě bù jiàn le , yuán lái de lù jī pù mǎn luò yè hé suì shí , qīng tái shùn zhe hùn níng tǔ yī diǎn diǎn xiàng shàng shēng cháng .

The railroad tracks were gone, and the ties had disappeared as well; the former track bed was covered with fallen leaves and gravel, and moss was slowly creeping up the concrete.

中国新闻网·生活Sep 2026

观察舌象,舌质偏红,舌苔薄黄。

guān chá shé xiàng , shé zhì piān hóng , shé tái báo huáng .

Upon examination of the tongue, the tongue body appears slightly red, and the tongue coating is thin and yellow.

中国新闻网·生活Sep 2026

其中, 脾虚湿盛体质,有舌苔厚腻、肚腹怕凉或容易腹泻 的人群,需要在医生指导下使用。

qí zhōng , pí xū shī shèng tǐ zhì , yǒu shé tái hòu nì , dù fù pà liáng huò róng yì fù xiè de rén qún , xū yào zài yī shēng zhǐ dǎo xià shǐ yòng .

In particular, individuals with a spleen-deficiency and dampness-excess constitution—characterized by a thick, greasy tongue coating, sensitivity to cold in the abdomen, or a tendency toward diarrhea—should use this product under a doctor’s guidance.

爱范儿Aug 2026

摩根粉、雾凇米、海苔绿等低饱和度车色,也为个性表达留下空间。

mó gēn fěn , wù 凇 mǐ , hǎi tái lǜ děng dī bǎo hé dù chē sè , yě wéi gè xìng biǎo dá liú xià kōng jiān .

Low-saturation car colors—such as Morgan Pink, Rime Rice, and Seaweed Green—also leave room for self-expression.

爱范儿Aug 2026

最后生成了 11 页 PPT,雾白、石墨灰和苔藓绿打底,再用一条暖色光谱模拟灯光。

zuì hòu shēng chéng le 1 1 yè P P T , wù bái , shí mò huī hé tái 藓 lǜ dǎ dǐ , zài yòng yī tiáo nuǎn sè guāng pǔ mó nǐ dēng guāng .

The final result was an 11-page PowerPoint presentation with misty white, graphite gray, and moss green as the background colors, accented by a warm color spectrum to simulate lighting.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 艹 (plant) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced tái

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 苔 (tái) mean in Chinese?
苔 (tái) primarily means "used in 舌苔." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #3390 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 苔 and 始?
苔 (tái) and 始 (shǐ) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 艹 vs 女 (same 台 component).
How many strokes does 苔 have?
苔 is written with 8 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 苔?
The radical associated with 苔 is 艹 (grass). This radical appears in many characters related to grass.
What are the components of 苔?
苔 is composed of: 艹 (semantic), 台 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱艹台 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 苔?
Common words with 苔 include: 苔藓 (tái xiǎn, "moss"); 苔原 (tái yuán, "tundra"); 青苔 (qīng tái, "moss"); 舌苔 (shé tāi, "(TCM) coating on the tongue (examined for the purpose of diagnosis)"); 生苔 (shēng tái, "mossy"). There are over 12 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 苔 (tái)?
Several characters share the pronunciation tái: 抬 (to lift), 跆 (to trample, to kick). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 苔 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 苔 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 苔 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.