HSK 4 · Function Words

底 dǐ “bottom” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 底 means

  1. bottom
  2. base
  3. end (of a month or year)
  4. background
  5. foundation
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • copy (of a manuscript or receipt etc) kept as a record
  • (suffix) end of a year or month
  • (maths.) radix
  • base (abbr. for 底数)

How to say 底

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale底dǐ3rd tone, dipping

底 in a sentence

  1. 猫在桌子底下。

    Māo zài zhuōzi dǐxia.

    The cat is under the table.

    Sentence #802831 from Tatoeba

  2. 那儿的水深到我碰不到底。

    Nàr de shuǐ shēn dào wǒ pèng bu dào dǐ.

    The water there was so deep that I couldn’t touch the bottom.

    Sentence #12554493 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  3. 他就像井底之蛙。

    Tā jiù xiàng jǐng dǐ zhī wā.

    He’s like a frog at the bottom of a well.

    Sentence #972236 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 底 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 底 (dǐ) with each of its parts in a different colour
底dǐbottom; base
  • 广shelter · guǎngMeaning part
  • 氐the name of an ancient tribe · dǐSound part

广 hints at the meaning (shelter); 氐 (dǐ) hints at the sound. Compare it with dǐ.

How to write 底

底 8 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

底 (dǐ) stroke order chart: each stroke of the character in the order you write it
Stroke order chart for 底 (dǐ). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 底

Words with 底

到底dàodǐ · after all彻底chèdǐ · thorough归根到底guīgēndàodǐ · in the final analysis

More words: Particles & Connectors

大约dàyuē · approximately到处dàochù · everywhere到底dàodǐ · after all得děi · to have to对面duìmiàn · (sitting) opposite对于duìyú · regarding而ér · and份fèn · measure word for portions

FAQs

底 (dǐ) means “bottom” or “base”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it dǐ: dǐ with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 底 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type di with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 底 from the suggestions. Typing di into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
底 is an HSK 4 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.