How to write 六 (liù, “six”)
六 (liù), an HSK 1 character, means “six” and “6”. It is the number 6. As a top-bottom character it splits into 亠 (“lid”), strokes 1–2; 八 (“eight”, the radical), strokes 3–4, written the top first. On its own it is an HSK 1 word; it also forms 五颜六色 (“multicolored”), 六书 (“Six Methods of forming Chinese characters”) and 六十 (“sixty”). Japanese reads it roku, “six”, as a JLPT N5 kanji.
- Pinyin
- liù
- Strokes
- 4
- HSK
- 1
- Radical
- 八 (“eight”)
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- Vertical ㇑topdown and right
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Left-falling stroke ㇒leftdownwards → down and left
- Dot ㇔centerdown and right
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 4 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
六 in numbers
- 五颜六色 — multicolored
- 六书 — Six Methods of forming Chinese…
- 六十 — sixty
- 六家 — Six schools of pre-Han philosophy, as…
- 十六 — sixteen
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| liù fourth tone | six; 6 | — | 五颜六色 六书 六十 六家 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 1
- 2021 standard
- level 1
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 1 word
- Words with it
- 63 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 六
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 六 | liù | six; 6 HSK 1 |
| 五颜六色 五顏六色 | wǔyán-liùsè | multicolored; every color under the sun HSK 5 |
| 六书 六書 | liùshū | Six Methods of forming Chinese characters, according to Han… |
| 六十 | liùshí | sixty; 60 |
| 六家 | liùjiā | Six schools of pre-Han philosophy, as analyzed by 司马谈 (SīmǎTán)… |
| 十六 | shíliù | sixteen; 16 |
| 八八六 | bābāliù | Bye bye! |
| 第六人 | dìliùrén | (basketball) sixth man |
| 三茶六饭 三茶六飯 | sāncháliùfàn | lit. to offer three kinds of tea and six different dishes; to be… |
| 人五人六 | rénwǔrénliù | (idiom) to make a show of being decent and proper; to display phony… |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
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Contain it:
HSK 1, in list order: