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earth / ground / land

6 strokes · 土 (earth) + 也 (phonetic) · HSK 1

Where 地 comes from

地 = 土 (earth/soil) on the left + 也 on the right for the sound. The 土 radical is itself a picture of a mound of earth on the ground. So 地 is, quite literally, 'the earth under your feet'.

地 in Chinese culture

天 and 地 — heaven and earth — are the great pair in Chinese thought: 天地 means 'the whole world / the universe'. 地 also reads 'de' (toneless) as the particle that turns an adjective into an adverb (慢慢地 = slowly). And 地图 means 'map' — a picture of the land.

Example

大地 dàdì — the earth / the land

天地很大。
Tiāndì hěn dà.
Heaven and earth are vast.

How to remember it

A mound of soil (土) plus a sound part (也) — the EARTH / the GROUND.

天 (heaven, which you know) + 地 (earth) = 天地, 'the universe'. The pair appears in countless sayings, like 天地良心 ('heaven and earth as my conscience' — I swear it's true).

Same sound, different tones

1st dī
low
2nd dí
enemy
3rd dǐ
bottom
4th dì
earth

Words unlocked by 地

大地 dàdì
the earth / the land
天地 tiāndì
heaven and earth / the world
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