地 (de/dì) means "adverbial particle, earth, ground" with 6 strokes, radical 土 (earth), HSK 2 on the new exam.
Pronunciation
地 has 2 readings. Context (the surrounding word and part of speech) determines which reading applies.
Meaning
Primary: adverbial particle
Other meanings:
- earth
- ground
Etymology
Oracle-bone origin
地 does not appear in oracle-bone script with this form; in early texts 'earth' was written simply as 土. 地 is a later phono-semantic compound built from 土 (earth, semantic) and 也 (phonetic in Old Chinese). It emerges clearly in bronze and seal scripts once a distinct graph was needed for 'ground / land' as opposed to the broader 土.
Form evolution
The seal script shows a clean left-right structure with 土 on the left and 也 on the right, both still recognisable as their independent forms. Clerical script squares off the curves of 也 and straightens the strokes of 土, and 楷书 produces the modern 地 with no major further change. The left-right balance has remained stable for roughly two thousand years.
How the meaning evolved
The original meaning is 'earth, ground, land' as a counterpart to 天 (heaven). From there it extended to 'region, place, position' (地方, 地点) and to abstract ground such as 'background' or 'situation' (处境, 地步). In modern Mandarin it also serves as the adverbial particle de (慢慢地), a grammaticalised use unrelated to the original earth sense.
Cultural note
The pairing 天地 is one of the oldest binomials in Chinese thought, appearing throughout the Yijing and Daoist texts to denote the whole cosmos. Learners should note that the adverbial 地 is always pronounced de (neutral tone), never dì, even though the character is identical.
Mnemonic
Earth that also exists — the ground
Decomposition
Breaking a character into its components makes it far easier to recall. Each component above links to its own detail page.
Basic info
| Pinyin | de/dì |
| Meanings | adverbial particle, earth, ground |
| Stroke count | 6 strokes |
| Radical | 土 (#32: earth) |
| New HSK exam | Recognise at HSK 2, write by hand at HSK 1-2 |
| Frequency | #7 most common |
Example sentences
Words containing 地
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 地 | de | adverbial particle | HSK 2 |
| 地图 | dìtú | map | HSK 3 |
| 地方 | dìfang | local | HSK 3 |
| 地铁 | dìtiě | subway | HSK 2 |
| 地点 | dìdiǎn | location | HSK 3 |
| 地球 | dìqiú | earth | HSK 4 |
| 地址 | dìzhǐ | address | HSK 4 |
| 地毯 | dìtǎn | Carpet | HSK 7-9 |
| 地震 | dìzhèn | earthquake | HSK 5 |
| 陆地 | lùdì | land | HSK 5 |
| 当地 | dāngdì | Local | HSK 5 |
| 地道 | dìdao | tunnel | HSK 6 |
| 地理 | dìlǐ | Geography | HSK 5 |
| 地区 | dìqū | region | HSK 5 |
| 地位 | dìwèi | status | HSK 5 |
| 土地 | tǔdì | land | HSK 5 |
| 草地 | cǎodì | grassland, lawn | HSK 3 |
| 产地 | chǎndì | place of production | HSK 6 |
Related characters
On the new HSK 2 exam
Studying for HSK 2? Keep 地 with the rest of your level.
HSK Lord schedules your reviews so each character comes back right before you would forget it. Free to start, and it picks up where you are.
Frequently Asked Questions
Appears in these articles
Reviewed by RJ Murray, Founder, HSK Lord.