How to write 四 (sì, “four”)

四 (sì), an HSK 1 character, means “four” and “4”. It is the number 4. As an enclosed character it splits into 囗 (“enclosure”, the radical), strokes 1–2 and 5; 儿 (“legs”), strokes 3–4, written with the strokes of the parts interleaved. On its own it is an HSK 1 word; it also forms 四季 (“four seasons”), 四周 (“all around”) and 四处 (“all over the place”). Japanese reads it shi, “four”, as a JLPT N5 kanji.

Pinyin: sì
Strokes: 5
HSK: 1
Radical: 囗 (“enclosure”)

Stroke by stroke

Vertical ㇑top leftdownwards
Horizontal-turn ㇕top leftrightwards → downwards
Left-falling stroke ㇒topdown and left
Vertical-curve-hook ㇟topdownwards → rightwards
Horizontal ㇐bottom leftrightwards

Names of the strokes

Japanese and Chinese

Japanese and Chinese draw all 5 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.

Japanese · KanjiVG · 5 strokes

Chinese · Make Me a Hanzi · 5 strokes

四 in numbers

四季 — four seasons, namely: spring 春 (chūn)…
四周 — all around
四处 — all over the place
四方 — four-way
四面八方 — (idiom) all directions

Trace it

Follow the numbers. Tracing help

Pinyin and meaning

Pinyin	Meanings	Traditional	In words
sì fourth tone	four; 4	—	四季四周四处四方

HSK 2025 syllabus: level 1
2021 standard: level 1
HSK 2.0: in a level 1 word
Words with it: 180 in CC-CEDICT

Words with 四

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
四	sì	four; 4 HSK 1
四季	sìjì	four seasons, namely: spring 春 (chūn), summer 夏 (xià), autumn 秋 (qiū)… HSK 3
四周	sìzhōu	all around HSK 5
四处四處	sìchù	all over the place; everywhere and all directions HSK 5
四方	sìfāng	four-way; four-sided HSK 7-9
四面八方	sìmiàn-bāfāng	(idiom) all directions; all around HSK 7-9
丢三落四丟三落四	diūsān-làsì	forgetful; empty-headed HSK 7-9
四通八达四通八達	sìtōng-bādá	roads open in all directions (idiom); accessible from all sides HSK 7-9
五湖四海	wǔhú-sìhǎi	all parts of the country HSK 7-9
四肢	sìzhī	the four limbs of the body HSK 7-9

HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).

Practice sheet

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Keep going

HSK 1, in list order: