天 (tiān) is a Chinese character meaning “sky”. It is written from 一 (one) and 大 (big), one above the other, and takes 4 strokes.
Build the character for “sky; day”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
一 + 大
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: Unicode U+5929, Unicode radical 37 (大), and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (stroke 0 forms 一; strokes 1–3 form 大)
Memory aid
One flat line (一) laid across the top of a big standing person (大): whatever stretches above people is the sky.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
4 strokes
In real words
- 七天qī tiānseven days天 = tiān
- 天气tiān qìweather天 = tiān
- 两天liǎng tiāntwo days天 = tiān
- 今天jīn tiāntoday天 = tiān
- 冬天dōng tiānwinter天 = tiānHSK 1
- 半天bàn tiānhalf a day; a long while天 = tiān
- 明天míng tiāntomorrow天 = tiān
- 每天měi tiānevery day; daily天 = tiān
- 白天bái tiāndaytime; during the day天 = tiān
- 苍天cāng tiānthe blue sky; the heavens天 = tiān
- 阴天yīn tiāna cloudy day; overcast weather天 = tiān
- 夏天xià tiānsummer天 = tiān
- 天桥tiān qiáooverpass; pedestrian bridge天 = tiān
- 天津tiān jīnTianjin (major port city in northern China)天 = tiān
- 天涯tiān yáthe ends of the earth; a faraway place天 = tiān
- 昨天zuó tiānyesterday天 = tiānHSK 1
- 秋天qiū tiānautumn; fall天 = tiān
- 聊天liáo tiānto chat天 = tiān
Go deeper
All readings
sky; day
sky; heaven; day; weather
天空；一昼夜的时间；也指天气。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 七天qī tiānseven days天 = tiān
- 天气tiān qìweather天 = tiān
- 两天liǎng tiāntwo days天 = tiān
- 今天jīn tiāntoday天 = tiān
- 冬天dōng tiānwinter天 = tiānHSK 1
- 半天bàn tiānhalf a day; a long while天 = tiān
- 明天míng tiāntomorrow天 = tiān
- 每天měi tiānevery day; daily天 = tiān
- 白天bái tiāndaytime; during the day天 = tiān
- 苍天cāng tiānthe blue sky; the heavens天 = tiān
- 阴天yīn tiāna cloudy day; overcast weather天 = tiān
- 夏天xià tiānsummer天 = tiān
- 天桥tiān qiáooverpass; pedestrian bridge天 = tiān
- 天津tiān jīnTianjin (major port city in northern China)天 = tiān
- 天涯tiān yáthe ends of the earth; a faraway place天 = tiān
- 昨天zuó tiānyesterday天 = tiānHSK 1
- 秋天qiū tiānautumn; fall天 = tiān
- 聊天liáo tiānto chat天 = tiān
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 天 mean?
天 (tiān) means sky; heaven; day; weather.
How do you pronounce 天?
It is pronounced tiān.
What parts is 天 made of?
一 (one) and 大 (big), one above the other. The recorded source is: Unicode U+5929, Unicode radical 37 (大), and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (stroke 0 forms 一; strokes 1–3 form 大). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 天 have?
4. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 天?
大. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 天?
Common ones are 七天 and 天气. The reading of 天 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.