How to write 三 (sān, “three”)
三 (sān), an HSK 1 character, means “three” and “3”. It is the number 3. As a top-bottom character it splits into 一 (“one”, the radical), stroke 1; 二 (“two”), strokes 2–3, written the top first. On its own it is an HSK 1 word; it also forms 再三 (“over and over again”), 三角 (“triangle”) and 丢三落四 (“forgetful”). Japanese reads it san, “three”, as a JLPT N5 kanji.
- Pinyin
- sān
- Strokes
- 3
- HSK
- 1
- Radical
- 一 (“one”)
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- Horizontal ㇐top leftrightwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Horizontal ㇐bottom leftrightwards
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 3 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
三 in numbers
- 再三 — over and over again
- 三角 — triangle
- 丢三落四 — forgetful
- 举一反三 — to raise one and infer three
- 接二连三 — (idiom) one after another
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| sān first tone | three; 3 | — | 再三 三角 丢三落四 举一反三 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 1
- 2021 standard
- level 1
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 1 word
- Words with it
- 330 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 三
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 三 | sān | three; 3 HSK 1 |
| 再三 | zàisān | over and over again; again and again HSK 6 |
| 三角 | sānjiǎo | triangle; trigonometry (abbr. for 三角学 (sānjiǎoxué)) HSK 7-9 |
| 丢三落四 丟三落四 | diūsān-làsì | forgetful; empty-headed HSK 7-9 |
| 举一反三 舉一反三 | jǔyī-fǎnsān | to raise one and infer three; to deduce many things from one case… HSK 7-9 |
| 接二连三 接二連三 | jiē’èr-liánsān | (idiom) one after another; in quick succession HSK 7-9 |
| 三维 三維 | sānwéi | three-dimensional; 3D HSK 7-9 |
| 三番五次 | sānfān-wǔcì | over and over again (idiom) HSK 7-9 |
| 朝三暮四 | zhāosān-mùsì | lit. say three in the morning but four in the evening (idiom); to… HSK 7-9 |
| 三七 | sānqī | pseudoginseng (Panax pseudoginseng), hemostatic herb |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
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HSK 1, in list order: