How to Write 地 (de/dì) — Meaning “Ground; earth; land; floor”

Picture the left side 土 as a patch of land, and the right side 也 as a snake slithering on the ground. The snake's curved shape matches the strokes of 也, helping you recall the whole character.

Write the left radical 土 first with three strokes, keeping it narrow and balanced. Then write 也: start with a horizontal fold hook, then a vertical stroke, and end with a vertical hook that curves left. A common mistake is making the 土 too wide or forgetting the hook on the last stroke.

地 has 土 on the left and 也 on the right, while 圣 has 又 on top and 土 on the bottom. 圤 has an outer enclosure 囗 with 土 inside, like a block of earth, so it looks completely different from 地.

地 has two pronunciations: as dì it means 'ground', 'earth', or 'place', as in 地球 (Earth) and 地方 (place). As a light de it is used to turn adjectives into adverbs, like 慢慢地 (slowly). In Chinese philosophy, 地 represents the earth, one of the three powers (天地人) together with heaven and humans.

Common words containing 地 include: 土地 (tǔ dì) — Land; soil; territory; 地球 (dì qiú) — Earth; 慢慢地 (màn màn dì) — Slowly..