How to write 大 (dà, “big”)
大, an HSK 1 character, is read dà for “big” and “older”, and also dài (“see 大夫”). As an overlapping character it splits into 一 (“one”), stroke 1; 人 (“person”), strokes 2–3, written the first part first. Its 3 strokes put it among the simplest at HSK 1. On its own it is an HSK 1 word; it also forms 大学 (“university”), 大家 (“everyone”) and 大学生 (“university student”). Japanese reads it tai, “large”, as a JLPT N5 kanji.
- Pinyin
- dà, dài
- Strokes
- 3
- HSK
- 1
- Radical
- 大 (“big”)
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Left-falling stroke ㇒topdownwards → down and left
- Right-falling stroke ㇏centerdown and right → rightwards
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 3 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| dà fourth tone | big; large; great; older (than another person); eldest (as in 大姐 (dàjiě)); greatly; freely; fully; (dialect) father | — | 大学 大家 大学生 大人 |
| dài fourth tone | see 大夫 (dàifu) | — | 大夫 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 1
- 2021 standard
- level 1
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 1 word
- Words with it
- 1,015 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 大
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 大 | dà | big; large HSK 1 |
| 大学 大學 | dàxué | university; college HSK 1 |
| 大家 | dàjiā | everyone; influential family HSK 1 |
| 大学生 大學生 | dàxuéshēng | university student; college student HSK 1 |
| 大人 | dàren | adult; grownup HSK 3 |
| 大小 | dàxiǎo | large and small; size HSK 3 |
| 大衣 | dàyī | overcoat; topcoat HSK 3 |
| 大概 | dàgài | roughly; probably HSK 3 |
| 大熊猫 大熊貓 | dàxióngmāo | giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) HSK 3 |
| 大夫 | dàifu | doctor; physician HSK 4 |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
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Contain it:
HSK 1, in list order: