思 (sī): to think, thought
思 (sī) is a Chinese character meaning “to think, thought.” Classified as HSK Level 2 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 田 (structural) and 心 (structural). It ranks #298 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 思 weighing something with your mind 囟 (altered) and heart 心. Its radical form 心 (heart) appears in many related characters such as 忘 (wàng, to forget), 想 (xiǎng, to think, to want), 爱 (ài, to love).
Definitions
- to think, thought
Etymology & Origin
ideographicWeighing something with your mind 囟 (altered) and heart 心
Decomposition: ⿱田心 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 思 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 思
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 意思noun | yì si | idea | 2 |
| 不好意思 | bù hǎo yì si | to feel embarrassed | 2 |
| 有意思 | yǒu yì si | interesting | 2 |
| 思想noun | sī xiǎng | thought | 5 |
| 思维noun/verb | sī wéi | (line of) thought | 5 |
| 没意思 | méi yì si | boring | 2 |
| 思念verb | sī niàn | to think of | 6 |
| 思路noun | sī lù | line of thought | 6 |
| 反思verb | fǎn sī | to think back over sth | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 思考 | sī kǎo | to reflect on |
| 心思 | xīn si | mind |
| 马克思 | mǎ kè sī | Marx (name) |
| 构思 | gòu sī | to design |
| 思绪 | sī xù | train of thought |
| 小意思 | xiǎo yì si | small token |
| 沉思 | chén sī | to contemplate |
| 思索 | sī suǒ | to think deeply |
| 好意思 | hǎo yì si | to have the nerve |
| 寻思 | xún sī | to consider |
| 深思 | shēn sī | to ponder |
| 文思 | wén sī | the train of thought in writing |
| 思想家 | sī xiǎng jiā | thinker |
| 思量 | sī liang | to reckon |
| 相思 | xiāng sī | to yearn |
思 appears in 100 compound words: 39 as the first character, 44 as the last, and 17 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 思 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (34)
inconceivable; unimaginable; incomprehensible; incomprehensible by the human mind
no thought for tea or rice (idiom); melancholic and suffering; to have no appetite
seeing things left behind by someone or the belongings of the deceased triggers one's memories of that person
Showing 12 of 34 idioms containing 思.
Example Sentences
思考问题时要全面考虑，不能只看表面现象。
Sīkǎo wèntí shí yào quánmiàn kǎolǜ, bùnéng zhǐ kàn biǎomiàn xiànxiàng.
When thinking about problems, consider them comprehensively; don't just look at surface phenomena.
治疗迷思难解...罕病SMA病人约4分之1未接受...
zhì liáo mí sī nán jiě . . . hǎn bìng S M A bìng rén yuē 4 fēn zhī 1 wèi jiē shòu . . .
Treatment myths are hard to solve... About one-quarter of patients with rare SMA do not receive it...
...市长人选民众各有所好 杨阵营诉求“分工”思维
. . . shì cháng rén xuǎn mín zhòng gè yǒu suǒ hǎo yáng zhèn yíng sù qiú fēn gōng sī wéi
... The mayoral candidates have their own preferences, and the Yang camp appeals for "division of labor" thinking
江沐洋:2.24国际黄金原油走势分析操作思路-FX168
jiāng mù yáng : 2 . 2 4 guó jì huáng jīn yuán yóu zǒu shì fēn xī cāo zuò sī lù F X 1 6 8
Jiang Muyang: 2.24 International gold and crude oil trend analysis operation ideas-FX168
小江蕙81岁母亲初二离世!陈思安忍3天痛揭噩耗:爸妈天上团聚了
xiǎo jiāng 蕙 8 1 suì mǔ qīn chū èr lí shì ! chén sī ān rěn 3 tiān tòng jiē è hào : bà mā tiān shàng tuán jù le
Xiao Jianghui's 81-year-old mother passed away on the second day of junior high school! Chen Si'an endured for 3 days to reveal the bad news: his parents were reunited in heaven
...们是谁”:拼写争议背后的加拿大国族认同迷思
. . . men shì shéi pīn xiě zhēng yì bēi hòu de jiā ná dà guó zú rèn tóng mí sī
... Who are we": The myth of Canadian national identity behind the spelling controversy
这个词是什么意思？
Zhège cí shì shénme yìsi?
What does this word mean?
您知道这个词的意思吗？
Nín zhīdào zhège cí de yìsi ma?
Do you know the meaning of this word?
不好意思，我想请问去车站怎么走？
Bù hǎoyìsi, wǒ xiǎng qǐngwèn qù chēzhàn zěnme zǒu?
I'm sorry to trouble you, but could you tell me the way to the station?
不好意思，你刚才说什么？
Bù hǎoyìsi, nǐ gāngcái shuō shénme?
I'm sorry, but I didn't catch what you said.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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