丁 (dīng) is a Chinese character meaning “an adult man”. It takes 2 strokes. It has a second reading, zhēng, which turns up in 丁丁 — here the two readings are two separate things to learn, not one card with two answers.
Learn to write “adult man; fourth”
Watch the stroke order, then write the character yourself. · 2 strokes
StartLearn this character
Structure
丁
Single unit
- 丁 fourth; adult man · dīng unknown
Structure from: Unicode U+4E01 and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection
Memory aid
The two strokes of 丁 form a sturdy nail shape: remember 丁 through this simple shape.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
2 strokes
In real words
- 园丁yuán dīnggardener丁 = dīng
- 丁香dīng xiānglilac; clove丁 = dīng
Go deeper
All readings
adult man; fourth
an adult man; the fourth of the ten Heavenly Stems; a person engaged in a particular occupation
成年男子；天干的第四位；也可指从事某种职业的人。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 园丁yuán dīnggardener丁 = dīng
- 丁香dīng xiānglilac; clove丁 = dīng
sound of chopping wood
used in 丁丁 to imitate the sound of chopping wood
用于“丁丁”，形容伐木的声音。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 丁丁zhēng zhēngsound of chopping wood丁 = zhēng
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 丁 mean?
丁 (dīng) means an adult man; the fourth of the ten Heavenly Stems; a person engaged in a particular occupation.
How do you pronounce 丁?
Its main reading is dīng. It also has a second reading, zhēng, which only shows up in certain words such as 丁丁 — so the word tells you the reading, not the character on its own.
Why is 丁 sometimes pronounced zhēng?
Because it is a multi-reading character: each reading carries a different sense, and the word decides which one applies. In 丁丁 it is read zhēng.
How many strokes does 丁 have?
2. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 丁?
一. 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 丁?
Common ones are 园丁 and 丁香. The reading of 丁 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.