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大 — big; large; great

big; large; great; older; eldest; greatly; freely; fully; father

Pinyin
dà · dài
Strokes
3
HSK level
HSK 1
Handwriting
required

This character has more than one reading — dà, dài — and the pronunciation depends on the word it appears in. The list below gives the syllabus reading for each word.

How to write 大: 3 strokes

Each cell adds one stroke to the previous ones, with the new stroke in red. Stroke order is not decoration: it sets the proportions of the character and makes handwriting legible to a reader. This character is on the HSK handwriting list, so the exam expects you to write it, not only recognise it.

大 — 3 strokes, in writing order from left to right.

Build a printable practice sheet with 大

Words with 大 in the HSK syllabus: 86

Every word in the official 2026 syllabus that contains this character, with the level it is introduced at. Learning a character pays off through these: each one combines with the characters you already know.

  1. 大dàbig; large; great; older; eldestHSK 1
  2. 大家dàjiāeveryone; influential family; great expertHSK 1
  3. 大学dàxuéthe Great Learning, one of the Four Books 四書|四书[Si4 shu1] in ConfucianismHSK 1
  4. 大学生dàxuéshēnguniversity student; college studentHSK 1
  5. 大概dàgàiroughly; probably; rough; approximate; aboutHSK 3
  6. 大人dàrenadult; grownup; title of respect toward superiorsHSK 3
  7. 大小dàxiǎolarge and small; size; adults and childrenHSK 3
  8. 大熊猫dàxióngmāogiant pandaHSK 3
  9. 大衣dàyīovercoat; topcoat; cloakHSK 3
  10. 大巴dàbālarge bus; coachHSK 4
  11. 大大dàdàgreatly; enormously; dad; uncleHSK 4
  12. 大夫dàifudoctor; physicianHSK 4
  13. 大量dàliànggreat amount; large quantity; bulk; numerousHSK 4
  14. 大赛dàsàigrand contestHSK 4
  15. 大厅dàtīnghall; concourse; public lounge; lobbyHSK 4
  16. 大约dàyuēapproximately; probablyHSK 4
  17. 大自然dàzìránnatureHSK 4
  18. 大胆dàdǎnbrazen; audacious; outrageous; bold; daringHSK 5
  19. 大多dàduōfor the most part; many; most; the greater partHSK 5
  20. 大会dàhuìgeneral assembly; general meeting; conventionHSK 5
  21. 大力dàlìenergetically; vigorouslyHSK 5
  22. 大妈dàmāfather's elder brother's wife; auntHSK 5
  23. 大米dàmǐriceHSK 5
  24. 大脑dànǎobrain; cerebrumHSK 5
  25. 大批dàpīlarge quantities ofHSK 5
  26. 大厦dàshàor 帝國大廈|帝国大厦 Empire State Building etc)HSK 5
  27. 大事dàshìmajor event; major political eventHSK 5
  28. 大象dàxiàngelephantHSK 5
  29. 大型dàxínglarge; large-scaleHSK 5
  30. 大爷dàyefather's older brother; uncleHSK 5
  31. 大于dàyúgreater than; bigger than; more thanHSK 5
  32. 大众dàzhòngVolkswagenHSK 5
  33. 高大gāodàtall; lofty; toweringHSK 5
  34. 广大guǎngdàvast or extensive; large-scale; widespread; numerousHSK 5
  35. 巨大jùdàhuge; immense; enormous; giganticHSK 5
  36. 扩大kuòdàto expand; to enlarge; to broaden one's scopeHSK 5
  37. 强大qiángdàbig and strong; formidable; powerfulHSK 5
  38. 伟大wěidàhuge; great; grand; worthy of the greatest admiration; importantHSK 5
  39. 重大zhòngdàgreat; important; major; significantHSK 5
  40. 大臣dàchénchancellor; cabinet ministerHSK 6

And 46 more across the higher levels — the full lists are on the level pages.

Glosses come from CC-CEDICT, used under CC BY-SA 4.0, and are the dictionary’s first sense rather than a translation chosen for context.