歹 (dǎi) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

歹

dǎi[dai3]Tone 3

bad, wicked, evil

HSK 7

Guru Deep Dive

English · bad, wicked, evil

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雙生字Twin Character Traps (雙生字)

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Often confused with 夕 (xī) — 歹 is 夕 with one extra horizontal stroke at the top.
夕 vs 歹 Drill this pair

11. Meaning

bad or wicked

evilruinedKangxi radical number 78

AdjectiveFormal / LiteraryBound morpheme#morality#qualities#radicals

Origin — where this character comes from

A fragment of bare remains: a few curved ribs and bones stripped of all flesh.

歹 (dǎi, remains; bad) — A fragment of bare remains: a few curved ribs and bones stripped of all flesh. Nothing soft is left — decay reduced to its hardest parts is the picture.

Sample Usage

好歹
hǎodǎi
good and bad, anyhow, anyway
歹人
dǎirén
bad person, scoundrel

22. Sound

/[taɪ̯²¹⁴]/Tone: 214

歹

dǎidai3

ˇ(214)

=dǎi

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

dai

Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "a" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Alveolar

Sounds like: d sound as in English 'do'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No puff of air. Tissue remains still (sounds like English 't' in 'stop').

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip touches the alveolar ridge behind the upper front teeth.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: ai rhymes with 'eye' or 'pie' in English

Mouth Shape Guide: Combine initial 'd-' (d/t) with final '-ai' (eye).

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T3 (214)

2 → 1 → 4 (214)

3rd Tone (Low-Dipping)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 3 dips low in pitch like an English speaker saying 'Really?' in disbelief before rising.

Sandhi: When followed by another Tone 3, it changes to a Tone 2 (rising 35).

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse it with Tones 1, 2, or 4; ensure the dip is distinct and the final glide finishes high.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Trace a checkmark in the air: dip down sharply from your natural speaking pitch, then glide upward.

33. Writing4 strokes · animate & practice

1 / 1

Topology:Single character

Strokes:4 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the horizontal strokes neatly spaced and ensure the sweeping falling-hook stroke on the right provides dynamic counter-balance.

44. Components

Radical 歹 · bad or death radical (death, decay, evil, or misfortune)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 歹 (Serves as a primary semantic classifier for concepts relating to misfortune, ruin, or evil.)

A single radical character depicting a fractured bone or decay, symbolizing something bad or ruined.

一Horizontal top stroke
夕Evening / modified bone fragment shape

55. HistoryOriginally depicted a human skeleton or broken bone in Oracle Bone script, wh...

Liushu category: Pictogram (象形)

Origin: Originally depicted a human skeleton or broken bone in Oracle Bone script, which naturally extended to mean death, ruin, and subsequently bad or evil.

Semantic Evolution: From a physical bone or skeleton to death/decay, and generalized into an abstract descriptor for anything bad, wicked, or harmful.

As Kangxi Radical 78, it frequently appears on the left side of characters relating to death, disease, and disaster.

66. Sinosphere

77. Memory

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

夕(xī)

夕 means evening and lacks the top horizontal cap line that connects down into the left edge like 歹 does.

死(sǐ)

死 has an extra component underneath the radical to indicate a person dying.

88. Mastery这个人在村子里做尽了___事。

Active Recall Challenge

这个人在村子里做尽了___事。

Clue: dǎi

Common Learner Pitfall

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does the 4-stroke radical 歹 mean when seen in characters like 死 or 残?

Production: How do you write and pronounce the character for 'bad/wicked' with pinyin dǎi?

🎬 Videos12 clips · real-world usage

歹dǎibad, wicked, evil

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