Where 太 comes from
A giant 大 with a normal-sized man 丶 for scale
How to write 太 (tài, “highest”)
太 (tài), an HSK 1 character, means “highest”, “greatest” and “too”. It is a character whose parts combine into its meaning. On its own it is an HSK 1 word; it also forms 太阳 (“sun”), 太太 (“married woman”) and 老太太 (“elderly lady”). Japanese reads it tai, “plump”, as a JLPT N3 kanji.
- Pinyin
- tài
- Strokes
- 4
- HSK
- 1
- Radical
- 大 (“big”)
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
As an open-bottom frame character it splits into 大 (“big”, the radical), strokes 1–3; 丶 (“dot”), stroke 4, written the frame first.
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Left-falling stroke ㇒topdownwards
- Right-falling stroke ㇏centerdown and right → rightwards
- Dot ㇔bottomdown and right
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| tài fourth tone | highest; greatest; too (much); very; extremely | — | 太阳 太太 老太太 太空 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 1
- 2021 standard
- level 1
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 1 word
- Words with it
- 112 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 太
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 太 | tài | highest; greatest HSK 1 |
| 太阳 太陽 | tàiyáng | sun; sunlight HSK 3 |
| 太太 | tàitai | married woman; Mrs. HSK 5 |
| 老太太 | lǎotàitai | elderly lady (respectful); esteemed mother HSK 6 |
| 太空 | tàikōng | outer space HSK 6 |
| 太阳能 太陽能 | tàiyángnéng | solar energy HSK 6 |
| 太平 | tàipíng | peace and security HSK 7-9 |
| 太极 太極 | tàijí | the Absolute or Supreme Ultimate, the source of all things according… HSK 7-9 |
| 以太 | yǐtài | (loanword) ether (hypothetical medium that transmits light waves) |
| 太上 | tàishàng | title of respect for taoists |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
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Keep going
HSK 1, in list order: