(lǎo tiān) - good heavens, oh my god in Mandarin

lǎotiān

Traditional: 老天

#935 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

good heavens, oh my god

Word origin

老天 means good heavens, an exclamation addressing Heaven. 老 (lǎo) is a familiar prefix. 天 (tiān) means sky or Heaven, an ideograph of a person (大) with the head emphasised by a line above, the great expanse overhead.

Origin: compound
Root: 老 (lǎo, familiar prefix) + 天 (tiān, Heaven)

Stroke order

老

天

Examples

，！

Good heavens, how could this happen!

佑yòu。

Heaven bless us.

，。

Oh my god, you scared me to death.

，雨yǔ！

Good heavens, it's raining again!

佑yòu。

May heaven keep everyone safe.

老天 (lǎo tiān) means good heavens or oh my god.

Where this fits

The 1,000 most common Mandarin words

Where this word sits in the core vocabulary, and what to learn around it.

Mandarin vocabulary by HSK level

How many words each level actually needs, with real counts.

Mandarin learning guides

Podcasts, pronunciation traps and the things a word list cannot teach.

Add to review queue

Track this word in your spaced-repetition queue and be tested on it at the right interval.

Go to my review queue

Mandarin · Free printables

老天: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "老天" (good heavens, oh my god): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

Free for members

The printable worksheets, infographics and PDFs are free with an account. Start a free week and download as many as you like.

Start your free week

This word is part of lesson 19.