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Mandarin Pathways

Don't confuse with

Both sit on top of 大 (a person with arms stretched out), but look at the two horizontal strokes: in 天 (tiān, sky) the top line is shorter than the one below it — heaven is a short line high above a person. In 夫 (fū, husband) the top line is the longest stroke in the character and pokes up past the "arms", like a hairpin worn by an adult man in traditional China.

Quick self-test