How to write 铁 (tiě, “iron”)
铁 (tiě), an HSK 2 character, means “iron”, “arms” and “weapons”. The traditional form is 鐵, 21 strokes instead of 10. On its own it is an HSK 7-9 word; it also forms 地铁 (“underground railway”), 高铁 (“high speed rail”) and 铁路 (“railroad”). Japanese keeps the traditional 鐵, read tetsu (“iron”).
- Pinyin
- tiě
- Strokes
- 10
- HSK
- 2
- Radical
- 钅 (“metal”)
- Traditional
- 鐵
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
As a left-right character it splits into 钅 (“metal”, the radical), strokes 1–5; 失 (“to lose”), strokes 6–10, written the left part first.
- top leftdown and left
- top leftrightwards
- leftrightwards
- leftrightwards
- leftdownwards → up and right
- topdown and right → down and left
- centerrightwards
- centerrightwards
- topdownwards → down and left
- centerdown and right → rightwards
Traditional form
- Simplified
- 铁 · 10 strokes
- Traditional
- 鐵 · 21 strokes · see its strokes
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| tiě third tone | iron (metal); arms; weapons; hard; strong | 鐵 | 地铁 高铁 铁路 钢铁 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 2
- 2021 standard
- level 2
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 3 word
- Words with it
- 150 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 铁
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 铁 鐵 | tiě | iron (metal); arms HSK 7-9 |
| 地铁 地鐵 | dìtiě | underground railway; subway HSK 2 |
| 高铁 高鐵 | gāotiě | high speed rail HSK 3 |
| 铁路 鐵路 | tiělù | railroad; railway HSK 5 |
| 钢铁 鋼鐵 | gāngtiě | steel HSK 7-9 |
| 磁铁 磁鐵 | cítiě | magnet HSK 7-9 |
| 斩钉截铁 斬釘截鐵 | zhǎndīng-jiétiě | to chop the nail and slice the iron (idiom); resolute and decisive HSK 7-9 |
| 三铁 三鐵 | sāntiě | triathlon (Taiwan); (athletics) throwing events excluding the hammer… |
| 打铁 打鐵 | dǎtiě | to forge ironware |
| 生铁 生鐵 | shēngtiě | pig iron |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several characters: worksheet maker.
Keep going
HSK 2, in list order: