How to Write 增 (zēng) — Meaning “To increase or add.”

Picture a pile of dirt (土) being stacked layer by layer, like the vertical layers in 曾. Each new layer makes the pile larger — this visual of adding layers helps you remember that 增 means "to increase."

Write the left radical 土 first (horizontal, vertical, horizontal), then the right side 曾. A common mistake is to write the two dots on top of 曾 as one horizontal line — they are separate dots. Also make sure the bottom part of 曾 is balanced and not too tall.

增 means "to increase," while 塌 (tā) means "to collapse" — opposite meanings. Visually, 增 has 曾 on the right, 塌 has 沓 (water-like top), and 塍 (chéng) has 朕 on the right and refers to a raised field path. The right-side components are clearly different.

增 is very common in daily and formal contexts, especially in words like 增加 (to add), 增长 (to grow), and 增多 (to increase in number). You will often see it in news about population, prices, or economic growth, and it carries a neutral, factual tone.

Common words containing 增 include: 增加 (zēng jiā) — To increase or add.; 增长 (zēng zhǎng) — increase; 增多 (zēng duō) — To increase in number or amount..