Rat and Tiger in love
Energetic and passionate, as long as the Rat does not try to control the Tiger.
Neutral
Rat and Tiger Compatibility
Rat and Tiger compatibility: they sit 2 apart in the twelve-year cycle, a pairing the tradition classes as “Neutral”. We score it 68%.
- Relation
- Neutral no classical relation
- Steps apart
- 2 in the twelve-year cycle
- Next Rat year
- 2032 starts Feb 11, 2032
- Next Tiger year
- 2034 new year in late Jan or Feb
New-year dates: Hong Kong Observatory calendar.
Neutral
68%
Are the Rat and Tiger compatible?
The Tiger is bold, idealistic and impulsive; the Rat is shrewd, cautious and practical. The Rat can help the Tiger plan, and the Tiger can give the Rat courage. They admire different things in each other.
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Working together
The Tiger leads, the Rat strategises and handles the details of opportunity.
Where it goes wrong
The Rat's caution clashing with the Tiger's risk-taking.
Over time
How a Rat–Tiger relationship usually unfolds
- At first. The Tiger's boldness excites the Rat and the Rat's cleverness intrigues the Tiger.
- Once settled. The Rat plans carefully and the Tiger takes risks; the household needs agreed limits.
- What keeps it working. The Rat not trying to control the Tiger, and the Tiger listening to the Rat's warnings.
Fixed elements
Water Rat, wood Tiger
generating · controlling
The Rat’s water nourishes the Tiger’s wood — the image is rain on a growing tree. On the generating cycle the Rat gives and the Tiger receives.
The fixed element belongs to the animal and never changes; the element of a birth year (wood, fire, earth, metal or water) rotates every two years — see the years below.
On the twelve-year wheel
Where the Rat and the Tiger sit on the wheel
- Rat–Tiger, 2 steps apart: no classical relation.
- San He triangles. Tiger with the Horse and the Dog (dashed); Rat with the Dragon and the Monkey.
- Clash axes. Tiger–Monkey; Rat–Horse.
- Secret friends. In the Liu He list the Tiger pairs with the Pig; the Rat pairs with the Ox.
- Six harms. Rat and Goat; Tiger and Snake — not drawn.
Computed from 108 years of real lunar new year dates
The arithmetic behind this pairing
How the Rat and the Tiger sit on the cycle, and the share of the century each one actually holds.
Lunar years run 353 to 385 days, so the Rat ends up with 29 more days than the Tiger over the 108-year table: 3,306 against 3,277. As a pairing, two positions apart, they make up 1.393% of all pairings.
Possible age gaps — fixed by the cycle
A Rat and a Tiger can only be these numbers of years apart:
2
years apart
10
years apart
14
years apart
22
years apart
26
years apart
34
years apart
38
years apart
46
years apart
Recent birth-year combinations
| Rat | Tiger | Gap |
|---|---|---|
| Metal Rat 2020 | Metal Tiger 2010 | 10 years apart |
| Metal Rat 2020 | Water Tiger 2022 | 2 years apart |
| Earth Rat 2008 | Earth Tiger 1998 | 10 years apart |
| Earth Rat 2008 | Metal Tiger 2010 | 2 years apart |
| Fire Rat 1996 | Fire Tiger 1986 | 10 years apart |
| Fire Rat 1996 | Earth Tiger 1998 | 2 years apart |
| Wood Rat 1984 | Wood Tiger 1974 | 10 years apart |
| Wood Rat 1984 | Fire Tiger 1986 | 2 years apart |
Birth years for this pairing
Born in January or early February? Check the date before counting yourself a Rat or a Tiger.
Rat
1960 · 1972 · 1984 · 1996 · 2008 · 2020Tiger
1962 · 1974 · 1986 · 1998 · 2010 · 2022Cite this page
AstroHot. “Rat and Tiger Compatibility in the Chinese Zodiac.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/compatibility/rat/tiger/
For Wikipedia
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