How to Write 丁 (dīng) — Meaning “man; small cube (of food); the fourth Heavenly Stem”

Picture a nail: the top horizontal line is the flat head, and the vertical hook is the long body. This helps you remember that 丁 originally meant 'nail', and later 'man' (like a tough nail) and 'small cube' (like a nail-shaped dice).

Write the horizontal stroke first, slightly rising from left to right. Then draw the vertical hook starting from the middle of the horizontal, going straight down, then curving left and up a little. A common mistake is to make the hook too big or to forget it entirely, which would make the character look like a capital T.

一 is just a single horizontal line, meaning 'one'—no vertical stroke at all. 丂 has a curved vertical stroke without a hook, while 丁 has a clear hook at the bottom. So remember: 丁 looks like a nail with a hook, 一 is a dash, and 丂 is a bent line.

丁 appears in common words such as 丁香 (lilac or clove), 园丁 (gardener), and 补丁 (patch on clothing). Culturally, 丁 is one of the ten Heavenly Stems used in the Chinese calendar and as a surname (e.g., 丁先生, Mr. Ding).

Common words containing 丁 include: 丁香 (dīng xiāng) — lilac; clove; 园丁 (yuán dīng) — Gardener; 补丁 (bǔ dīng) — Patch.