四 (sì): four, 4
四 (sì) is a Chinese character meaning “four.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 囗 (structural) and 儿 (structural). It ranks #226 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 四 a child 儿 in a room with four walls 囗. Its radical form 囗 (enclosure) appears in many related characters such as 回 (huí, to circle), 国 (guó, country), 图 (tú, diagram).
Definitions
- four
- 4
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA child 儿 in a room with four walls 囗
Decomposition: ⿴囗儿 (layout: full-surround)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 四 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 四
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 四处noun | sì chù | all over the place | 5 |
| 四周noun | sì zhōu | all around | 5 |
| 四季noun | sì jì | four seasons, namely: spring 春, summer 夏, autumn 秋 and winter 冬 | 3 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 周四noun | zhōu sì | Thursday |
| 星期四 | xīng qī sì | Thursday |
| 四十numeral | sì shí | forty |
| 四分之一 | sì fēn zhī yī | one-quarter |
| 十四numeral | shí sì | fourteen |
| 四月noun | sì yuè | April |
| 四肢noun | sì zhī | the four limbs of the body |
| 说三道四 | shuō sān dào sì | to make thoughtless remarks (idiom) |
| 四起verb | sì qǐ | to spring up everywhere |
| 四方noun | sì fāng | four-way |
| 四面八方 | sì miàn bā fāng | (idiom) all directions |
| 四海noun | sì hǎi | (fig.) the whole world |
| 四面noun | sì miàn | all sides |
| 四重奏noun | sì chóng zòu | quartet (musical ensemble) |
| 四散verb | sì sàn | to disperse |
四 appears in 104 compound words: 77 as the first character, 13 as the last, and 10 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 四 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (49)
Showing 12 of 49 idioms containing 四.
Example Sentences
四季更替，每个季节都有它独特的美。
Sì jì gēngtì, měi gè jìjié dōu yǒu tā dútè de měi.
The four seasons alternate, and each season has its unique beauty.
川普加征15%全球关税 四大金控首席经济学家分析一次看
chuān pǔ jiā zhēng 1 5 quán qiú guān shuì sì dà jīn kòng shǒu xí jīng jì xué jiā fēn xī yī cì kàn
Trump imposed 15% global tariffs, and the chief economists of the four major financial holdings analyzed it at once
2026贺岁图|初四:接灶迎新
2 0 2 6 hè suì tú chū sì : jiē zào yíng xīn
2026 Chinese New Year Picture|Fourth: Welcome the new year
大跳水!有人称一家四口亏了4000!网友:后悔买早..
dà tiào shuǐ ! yǒu rén chèn yī jiā sì kǒu kuī le ! wǎng yǒu hòu huǐ mǎi zǎo . .
Big dive! Some people say a family of four lost 4,000! Netizens: regret buying early...
一场极致的气温震荡即将登场!气温猛冲到“四月春”后..
yī chǎng jí zhì de qì wēn zhèn dàng jí jiāng dēng chǎng ! qì wēn měng chōng dào sì yuè chūn hòu . .
An extreme temperature shock is on the way! Temperatures jumped to "April Spring" after...
春运机票大跳水,有人一家四口提前买票亏了4000元..
chūn yùn jī piào dà tiào shuǐ , yǒu rén yī jiā sì kǒu tí qián mǎi piào kuī le yuán . .
Spring Festival airfare dive, someone family of four bought tickets in advance of the loss of 4,000 yuan ...
可以唱首披头四的歌给我听吗？
Kěyǐ chàng shǒu pī tóu sì de gē gěi wǒ tīng ma?
Will you sing me a Beatles' song?
明年四月你英文是不是会已经学了十年了？
Míngnián Sìyuè nǐ Yīngwén shìbùshì huì yǐjīng xué le shí nián le?
By next April will you have studied English for ten years?
上个星期四你在他马德里的家吗？
Shànggèxīngqī sì nǐ zài tā Mǎdélǐ de jiā ma?
Were you in his house in Madrid last Thursday?
都四月了天气怎么还是这么冷？
Dōu Sìyuè le tiānqì zěnme háishi zhème lěng?
It's April already; why is it still so cold?
Character Family
囗 Radical Family — Characters sharing the enclosure radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 四 (sì) mean in Chinese?
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What is the radical of 四?
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What are common words containing 四?
What characters sound the same as 四 (sì)?
Is 四 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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