添 tiān to add
to add; to append; to increase; to replenish
怎么记住“添”: 氵 water + 天 day + ⺗ heart = to add. Grandma pours more water into the soup, tastes it for the third time that day and decides with all her heart to add one more pinch of salt.
部件结构
形声 · Meaning + sound
One part gives the meaning, the other gives the sound.
添 = 氵 water + 忝 shame
- 氵 water meaning
- 忝 shame sound
- 天 day
- 一 one
- 大 big
- ⺗ heart
- 天 day
Grandma pours more water into the soup, tastes it for the third time that day and decides with all her heart to add one more pinch of salt.
How it came to be
Water gives the meaning and the right part gives the sound: to add more by pouring in water.
用法
- To add/append: 添加 (tiānjiā) to add, 增添 (zēngtiān) to add/increase (增添色彩 add color/vibrancy).
- 添麻烦 (tiān máfan) = to cause (someone) trouble; 添 often adds something extra onto what's there.
- 添加剂 (tiānjiājì) = an additive (in food/products).
- 画蛇添足 (huàshé-tiānzú) 'draw legs on a snake' = to ruin by adding the superfluous; contrast 锦上添花 (jǐnshàng-tiānhuā) to add to something already good.