HSK 5 · Places

台阶 táijiē “steps” in Chinese

Traditional 臺階

What 台阶 means

  1. steps
  2. flight of steps
  3. step (over obstacle)
  4. fig. way out of an embarrassing situation
  5. bench (geology)

How to say 台阶

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale台tái2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale阶jiē1st tone, high and level

台阶 in a sentence

  1. 小心台阶！

    Xiǎoxīn táijiē!

    Mind the step!

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 他坐在门口的台阶上等我。

    Tā zuò zài ménkǒu de táijiē shàng děng wǒ.

    He sat on the steps by the door waiting for me.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 台阶 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 台 (tái) with each of its parts in a different colour
台táiyou
  • 厶private · sī
  • 口mouth · kǒu
The character 阶 (jiē) with each of its parts in a different colour
阶jiērank or step
  • 阝placeMeaning part
  • 介agent · jièSound part

阝 hints at the meaning (place); 介 (jiè) hints at the sound. Compare it with jiē.

How to write 台阶

台 5 strokes · 阶 6 strokes

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

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

Words related to 台阶

Words with 台

台tái · measure word for machines (a TV电台diàntái · radio station阳台yángtái · balcony柜台guìtái · sales counter台风táifēng · typhoon

Words with 阶

阶段jiēduàn · stage阶层jiēcéng · social class

More words: Places & Geography

名胜古迹míngshènggǔjì · famous sights and historic sites农村nóngcūn · rural area欧洲Ōuzhōu · Europe宿舍sùshè · dormitory位于wèiyú · to be located at位置wèizhi · position卧室wòshì · bedroom屋子wūzi · house

FAQs

台阶 (táijiē) means “steps” or “flight of steps”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it táijiē: tái with a 2nd tone, then jiē with a 1st 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, 台阶 is written 臺階. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type taijie with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 台阶 from the suggestions. Typing taijie into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
台阶 is an HSK 5 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 written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.