天 (tiān): day, sky, heaven
天 (tiān) is a Chinese character meaning “day.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 一 (structural) and 大 (structural). It ranks #78 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 天 the heavens 一 above a man 大. Its radical form 大 (big) appears in many related characters such as 大 (dà, big), 太 (tài, highest), 头 (tóu, head).
Definitions
- day
- sky
- heaven
Etymology & Origin
ideographicThe heavens 一 above a man 大
Decomposition: ⿱一大 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
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Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 天
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 今天noun | jīn tiān | today | 1 |
| 明天noun | míng tiān | tomorrow | 1 |
| 昨天noun | zuó tiān | yesterday | 1 |
| 天气noun | tiān qì | weather | 1 |
| 夏天noun | xià tiān | summer | 3 |
| 天才noun | tiān cái | talent | 6 |
| 天空noun | tiān kōng | sky | 5 |
| 白天noun | bái tiān | daytime | 1 |
| 星期天noun | xīng qī tiān | Sunday | 1 |
| 春天noun | chūn tiān | spring (season) | 3 |
| 天上noun | tiān shàng | the sky | 5 |
| 冬天noun | dōng tiān | winter | 3 |
| 天真adjective | tiān zhēn | naive | 6 |
| 聊天儿verb | liáo tiān r | erhua variant of 聊天 | 3 |
| 天下noun | tiān xià | land under heaven | 6 |
| 当天noun | dāng tiān | on that day | 6 |
| 秋天noun | qiū tiān | autumn | 3 |
| 改天adverb | gǎi tiān | another day | 5 |
| 天然adjective | tiān rán | natural | 6 |
| 半天numeral-measure | bàn tiān | half of the day | 3 |
| 前天noun | qián tiān | the day before yesterday | 3 |
| 后天noun | hòu tiān | the day after tomorrow | 3 |
| 天然气noun | tiān rán qì | natural gas | 6 |
| 天文noun | tiān wén | astronomy | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 每天adverb | měi tiān | every day |
| 那天 | nà tiān | that day |
| 老天noun | lǎo tiān | God |
| 天使noun | tiān shǐ | angel |
| 天堂noun | tiān táng | paradise |
| 聊天verb | liáo tiān | to chat |
| 整天noun | zhěng tiān | all day long |
| 天赋noun | tiān fù | gift |
| 谢天谢地interjection | xiè tiān xiè dì | (idiom) thank goodness |
| 天生 | tiān shēng | nature |
| 老天爷noun | lǎo tiān yé | God |
| 天天 | tiān tiān | every day |
| 天花板 | tiān huā bǎn | ceiling (of a room) |
天 appears in 138 compound words: 56 as the first character, 34 as the last, and 10 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 天 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (136)
green sea, blue sky (idiom); sea and sky merge in one shade; loneliness of faithful widow
being of or showing another level of scenery; (of a place) to be amazingly beautiful and unique
to happen all of a sudden; to happen out of the blue; to come out of nowhere
Showing 12 of 136 idioms containing 天.
Example Sentences
天气预报说明天会降温，记得多穿点衣服出门。
Tiānqì yùbào shuō míngtiān huì jiàngwēn, jìde duō chuān diǎn yīfu chūmén.
The weather forecast says it will get colder tomorrow; remember to wear more clothes when going out.
和首都女铁骑,做一天朋友
hé shǒu dū nǚ tiě qí , zuò yī tiān péng yǒu
I'll be friends for a day with the Capital Rangers.
冬奥会|全天综合:中国速滑再迎突破 中井亚美领跑花....
dōng ào huì quán tiān zèng gě zhōng guó sù huá zài yíng tū pò zhōng jǐng yà měi lǐng pǎo huā . . . .
Winter Olympics|All Day Roundup:China's speed skating welcomes another breakthrough Ami Nakai leads flower ....
请停留3秒 为这5位空军勇士献花!今天是万家团圆的..
qǐng tíng liú miǎo wéi zhè wèi kōng jūn yǒng shì xiàn huā ! jīn tiān shì mò jiā tuán yuán de . .
Please pause for 3 seconds to pay tribute to these five air force heroes! Today is a day when families gather together...
视频丨空间站的年夜饭都有什么?听航天员报菜名收祝福
shì pín 丨 kōng jiān zhàn de nián yè fàn dū yǒu shén má ? yǐn háng tiān yuán bào cài míng shōu zhù fú
Video丨What's on the Space Station's New Year's Eve Menu? Listen as Astronauts List Dishes and Receive Wishes
90后男生春节上门喂猫 前后20多天 爆赚16万 ..
hòu nán shēng chūn jié shǎng mén wéi māo qián hòu duō tiān bào zhuàn mò . .
A post-90s guy made a killing over the Spring Festival by offering cat-feeding services at clients' homes. In just over 20 days, he raked in 160,000 yuan.
明天会不会又很热？
Míngtiān huìbùhuì yòu hěn rè?
Will it be hot again tomorrow?
昨天的这个时间你在做什么呢？
Zuótiān de zhège shíjiān nǐ zài zuò shénme ne?
What were you doing about this time yesterday?
今天很冷啊，不是吗？
Jīntiān hěn lěng ā, bùshìma?
It's a cold day, isn't it?
我今天可以早退吗？
Wǒ jīntiān kěyǐ zǎotuì ma?
May I leave school early today?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 天 (tiān) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 天 and 宵?
How many strokes does 天 have?
What is the radical of 天?
What are the components of 天?
What are common words containing 天?
What characters sound the same as 天 (tiān)?
Is 天 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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