沙 (shā): granule, hoarse, raspy, sand, powder
沙 (shā) is a Chinese character meaning “granule.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (semantic) and 少 (phonetic). It ranks #848 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 沙 water. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 水 (shuǐ, water), 汉 (hàn, Han ethnic group), 汽 (qì, steam).
Definitions
- granule
- hoarse
- raspy
- sand
- powder
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 沙 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 沙
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 沙滩noun | shā tān | beach |
| 沙拉adjective | shā lā | (loanword) salad |
| 沙龙noun | shā lóng | salon (loanword) |
| 沙袋noun | shā dài | sandbag |
| 沙特proper-noun | shā tè | Saudi |
| 沙林noun | shā lín | sarin (loanword) |
| 沙丘noun | shā qiū | sand dune |
| 沙场noun | shā chǎng | sandpit |
| 沙包noun | shā bāo | sandbag |
| 沙丁鱼noun | shā dīng yú | sardine (loanword) |
| 沙尘暴noun | shā chén bào | sand and dust storm |
| 华沙proper-noun | huá shā | Warsaw, capital of Poland |
| 沙地noun | shā dì | sandy beach or river bank |
| 沙坑 | shā kēng | sandbox |
| 沙皇noun | shā huáng | czar (loanword) |
沙 appears in 105 compound words: 71 as the first character, 26 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 沙 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (13)
an extremely large number of; as numerous as there are grains of sand in the Ganges
by gathering small amounts one gets a huge quantity, many a mickle makes a muckle
(lit.) to sort the gold from the sand (idiom); (fig.) to separate the wheat from the chaff
by gathering small amounts one gets a huge quantity, many a mickle makes a muckle
an extremely large number of; as numerous as there are grains of sand in the Ganges
(lit.) to sort the gold from the sand (idiom); (fig.) to separate the wheat from the chaff
Showing 12 of 13 idioms containing 沙.
Example Sentences
孩子们在沙滩上堆城堡，玩得很开心。
Háizimen zài shātān shàng duī chéngbǎo, wán de hěn kāixīn.
The children built sandcastles on the beach and had a great time.
沙特阿拉伯前官员:任何对伊朗的军事打击都将...
shā tè ā lā bó qián guān yuán : rèn hé duì yī lǎng de jūn shì dǎ jī dōu jiāng . . .
Former Saudi Arabian official: Any military strike on Iran will...
沙巴附近海域7.1级地震 暂未有伤亡报告
shā bā fù jìn hǎi yù 7 . 1 jí dì zhèn zàn wèi yǒu shāng wáng bào gào
No casualties have been reported in the waters near Sabah due to a magnitude 7.1 earthquake
10万元财物失而复得,长沙火车站春运暖心守护旅客行..
1 0 wàn yuán cái wù shī ér fù dé , cháng shā huǒ chē zhàn chūn yùn nuǎn xīn shǒu hù lǚ kè háng . .
100,000 yuan of property was lost and recovered, and Changsha Railway Station warmly guarded the passengers during the Spring Festival:
“城管蓝”护“新春红” 长沙城管以坚守绘就星城团圆..
chéng guǎn lán hù xīn chūn hóng cháng shā chéng guǎn yǐ jiān shǒu huì jiù xīng chéng tuán yuán . .
"City management blue" to protect the "New Year red" Changsha city management to persevere in painting the star city reunion...
菲律宾海警在我南沙群岛附近海域扔下两个黑色桶状物,..
菲 lǜ bīn hǎi jǐng zài wǒ nán shā qún dǎo fù jìn hǎi yù rēng xià liǎng gě hēi sè tǒng zhuàng wù , . .
Philippine maritime police dropped two black barrels in the waters off my Spratly Islands,...
你能听到沙滩上海浪的声音吗？
Nǐ néng tīngdào shātān Shànghǎi làng de shēngyīn ma?
Can you hear the noise of the waves on the beach?
华沙比伦敦便宜吗？
Huáshā bǐ Lúndūn piányi ma?
Is Warsaw cheaper than London?
你看过《沙漠雄狮》吗？
Nǐ kàn guo 《 shāmò xióngshī 》 ma?
Have you seen the movie "Lion of The Desert"?
沙乌地阿拉伯有非常丰富的石油。
Shāwūdì ālābó yǒu fēicháng fēngfù de shíyóu.
Saudi Arabia is very rich in oil.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 氵 (water) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 沙 (shā) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 沙 and 省?
How many strokes does 沙 have?
What is the radical of 沙?
What are the components of 沙?
What are common words containing 沙?
What characters sound the same as 沙 (shā)?
Is 沙 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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