三 (sān): three, 3
三 (sān) is a Chinese character meaning “three.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 一 (structural) and 二 (structural). It ranks #125 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 三 three parallel lines; compare 一 (one) and 二 (two). Its radical form 一 (one) appears in many related characters such as 一 (yī, one), 七 (qī, seven), 上 (shàng, (bound form) up).
Definitions
- three
- 3
Etymology & Origin
ideographicThree parallel lines; compare 一 (one) and 二 (two)
Decomposition: ⿱一二 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 三 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 三
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 三明治noun | sān míng zhì | (loanword) sandwich |
| 三十numeral | sān shí | thirty |
| 星期三 | xīng qī sān | Wednesday |
| 周三noun | zhōu sān | Wednesday |
| 三角noun | sān jiǎo | triangle |
| 三分verb | sān fēn | somewhat |
| 十三numeral | shí sān | thirteen |
| 三分之一 | sān fēn zhī yī | one third |
| 三月noun | sān yuè | March |
| 三八adjective | sān bā | International Women's Day 婦女節|妇女节, 8th March |
| 第三者noun | dì sān zhě | third party |
| 第三世界proper-noun | dì sān shì jiè | Third World |
| 三角洲noun | sān jiǎo zhōu | delta (geography) |
| 三角形 | sān jiǎo xíng | triangle |
| 说三道四 | shuō sān dào sì | to make thoughtless remarks (idiom) |
三 appears in 112 compound words: 85 as the first character, 13 as the last, and 3 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 三 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (85)
Showing 12 of 85 idioms containing 三.
Example Sentences
三思而后行，不要急于做决定。
Sān sī ér hòu xíng, bùyào jíyú zuò juédìng.
Think thrice before acting; don't rush to make decisions.
(图表)欧洲三大股指2月20日全线上涨
( tú biǎo ) ōu zhōu sān dà gǔ zhǐ 2 yuè 2 0 rì quán xiàn shàng zhǎng
(Chart) The three major European stock indexes rose across the board on February 20
深夜,黄金、白银、原油齐涨,美股三大指数集体上涨丨..
shēn yè , huáng jīn bái yín yuán yóu qí zhǎng , měi gǔ sān dà zhǐ shǔ jí tī shǎng zhǎng 丨 . .
Late at night, gold, silver, crude oil rose, the three major U.S. stock indexes rose collectively 丨....
...西问丨全球政要马年“集体说马” 背后藏着三重文化..
. . . xī wèn 丨 quán qiú zhèng yāo mǎ nián jí tī shuō mǎ bēi hòu zàng zhe sān chóng wén huā . .
... The world's top politicians are talking about horses in the Year of the Horse, a trio of cultural ...
一卷春风三地书 2026福建省春节联欢晚会绘万里风...
yī juǎn chūn fēng sān dì shū fú jiàn shěng chūn jié lián huān wǎn huì huì mò lǐ fēng . . .
A Volume of Spring Breeze and Three Books 2026 Fujian Provincial Spring Festival Gala Painting Miles of Wind...
机器人春晚PK赛:热闹之余,多想三个问题 | 视频
jī qì rén chūn wǎn sài rè nào zhī yú , duō xiǎng sān gě wèn tí shì pín
Robot Spring Festival Gala Showdown: Beyond the Excitement, Three Questions to Ponder | Video
还剩下多少块三明治？
Hái shèngxià duōshao kuài sānmíngzhì?
How many sandwiches are there left?
你在三田市住了多久？
Nǐ zài sāntián shì zhù le duōjiǔ?
How long did you live in Sanda?
你要什么样的三明治？
Nǐ yào shénmeyàng de sānmíngzhì?
What kind of sandwich do you want?
周三你可以载我到办公室吗？
Zhōusān nǐ kěyǐ zài wǒ dào bàngōngshì ma?
Can you give me a ride to the office on Wednesday?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 三 (sān) mean in Chinese?
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What characters sound the same as 三 (sān)?
Is 三 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 三 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.