Sentence #3783091 from Tatoeba · translation adapted
How 地图 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.
地dìearth
土earth · tǔMeaning part
也also · yěSound part
土 hints at the meaning (earth); 也 (yě) hints at the sound. Compare it with dì.
Memory aidEarth 土 gives the meaning: the ground, a place.
图túdiagram
囗enclosure · wéi
冬part of the character
Memory aidSimplified from 圖. Picture a border 囗 drawn around the land: a map, a picture.
How to write 地图
地 6 strokes · 图 8 strokes
Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.
Stroke order chart for 地图 (dìtú). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.
Say it dìtú: dì with a 4th tone, then tú with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 地图 is written 地圖. The pronunciation is the same.
Use 张 (zhāng) or 本 (běn). For example, one map is 一张地图 (yì zhāng dìtú).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type ditu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 地图 from the suggestions. Typing ditu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
地图 is an HSK 3 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.