Definition
天 (tiān) is the everyday word for 'sky' and also a common classifier for counting days (e.g., 三天 'three days'). 日 (rì) is more formal and used in writing for 'day' or 'date' (e.g., 一月一日). 白天 (bái tiān) means 'daytime' (the part of the day when it's light). 天空 (tiān kōng) is a more formal/literary word for 'sky'.
noun
skyday24-hour period
classifier
used before a number to count days
Easily confused
- 美měilook-alikebeautiful; pretty
- 甜tiánsound-alikesweet
- 太tàilook-aliketoo, excessively (often with 了)
- 填tiánsound-aliketo fill (a hole, container, etc.)
- 因yīnlook-alike(preposition) because of, due to
- 舔tiǎnsound-aliketo lick
- 大dàlook-alikebig, large
- 田tiánsound-alikefield; farmland
- 添tiānsound-aliketo add, to increase, to replenish
Examples
- 天，。tiān hěn dà, méiyǒu yún.The sky is very big, with no clouds.
- 天。Yí gè xīngqī yǒu qī tiān.There are seven days in a week.
- 。Wǒ kàn le sān tiān shū.I read books for three days.
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