How to Write 梯 (tī) — Meaning “ladder; stairs”

Imagine your younger brother (弟) climbing a wooden (木) ladder to get a toy from a high shelf. The picture of a brother on a wooden ladder helps link the components to the meaning. This visual story makes it easy to recall both the shape and the meaning of 梯.

Write the left radical 木 with the horizontal stroke first, then the vertical, then the leftward stroke, and finally a dot for the right stroke. The right part 弟 must be narrow and balanced with the left; a common mistake is making the bottom of 弟 too wide or confusing its strokes with those of 弓.

梯 (ladder) has the right part 弟 (younger brother), while 枯 (withered) has 古 (old) and 枰 (chessboard) has 平 (flat). Visually, 弟 contains multiple horizontal strokes and a vertical hook, whereas 枯's right side looks like "ten + mouth" and 枰's right side is a flat line. Their meanings are unrelated even though they all share the 木 radical.

梯 appears in common words like 电梯 (elevator/lift) and 楼梯 (stairs/staircase). In daily life, you will see 电梯 in buildings and 楼梯 for staircases; a portable ladder is called 梯子. Culturally, 电梯 is used for both lifts and escalators, though escalators are more precisely called 自动扶梯.

Common words containing 梯 include: 电梯 (diàn tī) — elevator; lift; 楼梯 (lóu tī) — stairs; staircase; 梯子 (tī zi) — ladder.