在 zài exist; in; at
Made up of [土 tǔ earth; soil radical 32]Made with 6 strokes.
Originally a combination of 'cai' sprout and 'earth' perhaps making suggestion of 'existance' of a plant at a particular place
Ancient small seal form 
Related characters
Also uses 土 tǔ component: 场 cháng (threshing floor) 城 chéng (city) 地 dì (earth) 圭 guī (jade tablet) 圭 guī (jade tablet) 黑 hēi (black) 疆 jiāng (border) 块 kuài (piece) 里 lǐ (inside) 陵 líng (mound) 去 qù (go) 丧 sàng (to lose) 圣 shèng (holy) 寺 sì (Buddhist temple) 至 zhì (to arrive) 周 zhōu (circuit) 走 zǒu (walk) 座 zuò (seat) 坐 zuò (sit)
Sounds same
再 zài (again) 载 zài (to carry)Different tone
灾 zāi (disaster)Pronunciation
Sound file kindly provided by shtooka.net ➚ under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License
Stroke order for character 在, kindly provided under Wikimedia creative commons license ➚
Proverbs
常在河边走,哪能不湿鞋 cháng zài hé biān zǒu, nǎ néng bù shī xié You can't ignore the local conditions箭在弦上,不得不发 jiàn zài xián shàng, bù dé bù fā Things have reached a point when its necessary for something to be done. No choice
老骥伏枥,志在千里 lǎo jì fú lì, zhì zài qiān lǐ Ambitions never fade. An old person still has high hopes
留得青山在,不怕没柴烧 liú dé qīng shān zài, bù pà méi chái shāo Do not despair, there is plenty of time and opportunity
羊毛出在羊身上 yáng maó chū zài yáng shēn shàng Unrealistic expectations. You get what you pay for
自由自在 zì yóu zì zài To be carefree, peaceful and relaxed