How to Write 铊 (tā) — Meaning “thallium”

Think of it as 'metal (钅) that sounds like "ta" (它)' — and remember that the chemical element thallium starts with 'T' and sounds like 'ta'. You can also imagine a metal can labeled 'T.A.' for thallium.

Write the left radical 钅 first (5 strokes: 撇, 横, 横, 横, 竖提). Then write the right part 它 (5 strokes: 点, 点, 横撇, 撇, 竖弯钩). A common mistake is to make the final hook of 它 too long or to forget the hook entirely.

铊 (tā, thallium) has 它 (tā) on the right, while 钍 (tǔ, thorium) has 土 (tǔ, earth) and 钎 (qiān, drill) has 千 (qiān). Their pinyin and meanings are all different, so focus on the right-side component to distinguish them.

铊 is a specialized character mainly used in chemistry to refer to the element thallium. You might encounter it in terms like 铊中毒 (thallium poisoning), which has been discussed in news about famous poisoning cases in China. It is not used in everyday conversation.

Common words containing 铊 include: 铊中毒 (tā zhòng dú) — thallium poisoning; 金属铊 (jīn shǔ tā) — Thallium metal; 铊盐 (tā yán) — thallium salt.