底 (dǐ) — HSK 4 Recognition Character: Meaning, Radical & Stroke Order

dǐ bottom, underside; below, underneath 8 strokes · Radical 广 (broad) · HSK 4 recognition character (认读字)

👁 Recognition only: the official HSK 4 syllabus asks you to recognize 底 when reading — handwriting it is not required (that applies to the 150 writing characters). The stroke animation below is optional but helps memory.

Pronunciation & meaning

Pronounced dǐ.

bottom
underside
below
underneath

Stroke Order & Practice

Click Animate to see the correct stroke order, then Practice to trace it yourself.

底 — 8 strokes, numbered in writing order. 笔顺图（数字为下笔顺序）。

Decomposition

底 breaks down into 2 components arranged as Upper-left envelops Inner. Recognizing the components makes the character easier to remember and write.

底 = 广 outer broad

氐 inner the name of an ancient tribe

Radical

The radical of 底 is 广 — meaning broad. Radicals are the indexing components used in Chinese dictionaries; they often hint at a character's broad meaning category.

Other HSK 4 characters that share this radical: 度庭座广庆序.

How the character is built

底 is a phono-semantic compound. The semantic component 广 (building) carries the meaning, while the phonetic component 氐 originally indicated the sound.

HSK 4 Words Containing 底

到底 dàodǐ in the end; on earth; after all

你到底想说什么？

Nǐ dàodǐ xiǎng shuō shénme?

What exactly do you want to say?

底 dǐ bottom; base; end of a period

湖底有很多石头。

Hú dǐ yǒu hěn duō shítou.

There are many stones at the bottom of the lake.

底下 dǐxia underneath; below

桌子底下有一只猫。

Zhuōzi dǐxia yǒu yì zhī māo.

There is a cat under the table.

年底 niándǐ end of year; year-end

年底公司会发奖金。

Niándǐ gōngsī huì fā jiǎngjīn.

The company will issue bonuses at the end of the year.

Seen in the Real Exams / 真题例句

底 appears in 28 questions across the 19 mock & official HSK 4 exams on this site. Real exam sentences using it:

其实真正的海底世界比故事里写的还要有趣。

From Mock Exam 14 →

我们年底有活动，正在打折，比平时便宜了一千块。

From Mock Exam 03 →

究竟谁能先进球，比赛结果到底怎样，我们稍后将继续为您报道。

From Mock Exam 13 →

FAQ

What does 底 mean in Chinese?

底 (dǐ) means bottom, underside; below, underneath. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).

How many strokes does 底 have?

底 is written in 8 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 底?

The radical of 底 is 广 (broad). Other HSK 4 characters with the same radical include 度, 庭, 座, 广, 庆.

What is the pinyin for 底?

底 is pronounced dǐ.

What HSK 4 words use 底?

In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 底 appears in 4 words, including 到底 (dàodǐ), 底 (dǐ), 底下 (dǐxia), 年底 (niándǐ). See the full list above.