How to Write 叮 (dīng) — Meaning “to sting; to bite; to remind repeatedly”

Imagine a bee with a tiny mouth (口) landing on a nail (丁) — the bee uses its mouth to sting the nail. The sting causes a sharp sound like "ding," matching the pinyin dīng and meaning "to sting."

When writing 叮, first draw the left radical 口 as a small square with three strokes (vertical, horizontal bend, horizontal closing). Then add 丁 on the right — the horizontal stroke of 丁 should align with the middle of 口, and the vertical hook should drop below the bottom of 口. A common mistake is making 口 too big or the 丁 too far right.

卟 (bǔ) is a rare character used in a word for divination and looks like 口 with a vertical stroke inside; it is not related to stinging or reminding. 口 (kǒu) alone means "mouth" and is a simple pictograph, while 叮 is a compound character with a sound component 丁, giving it the specific actions of stinging or exhorting.

叮 appears in words like 叮嘱 (dīng zhǔ, to urge earnestly) and 叮咬 (dīng yǎo, insect bite/sting). It is often used to describe a persistent, repeated action — either an insect's sting or a person's repeated reminders. A cultural note: the onomatopoeic word 叮当 (dīng dāng) mimics the sound of small bells or coins, unrelated to the stinging meaning.

Common words containing 叮 include: 叮嘱 (dīng zhǔ) — to urge; to exhort; 叮咬 (dīng yǎo) — to bite; to sting (by an insect); 叮当 (dīng dāng) — ding-dong; jingle.