(suàn): to regard as, to figure, to calculate

(suàn) is a Chinese character meaning “to regard as.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (structural) and (structural). It ranks #403 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, a bamboo ⺮ abacus 具. Its radical form (bamboo) appears in many related characters such as (xiào, to laugh), (, (prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六[di4 liu4] "sixth")), (děng, to wait for).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to regard as
  2. to figure
  3. to calculate

Etymology & Origin

ideographicA bamboo ⺮ abacus 具

Decomposition: ⿱⺮具 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

Practice writing with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
verb/noundǎ suànto plan3
verb/adverbsuàn shìconsidered to be6
adverbzǒng suànat long last6
conjunctionjiù suàn(coll.) even if6
verbjì suànto calculate5
nounjì suàn jīcomputer5
verb/particlesuàn lelet it be6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
shuō le suànto have the final say
yù suànbudget
suàn shùto count numbers
àn suànto plot against
suàn jito reckon
suàn fǎarithmetic
shèng suànodds of success
suàn mìngfortune-telling
suàn zhàng(accounting) to balance the books
huá suànto calculate
yùn suànto perform calculations
pán suànto plot
bù suànto not calculate
jié suànto settle a bill
qīng suànto settle accounts
100
Total compounds
23
As first character
55
As last character
22
As middle character

appears in 100 compound words: 23 as the first character, 55 as the last, and 22 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

0.656267,050 co-occurrences
0.563168,590 co-occurrences
0.55253,011 co-occurrences
mào
0.52421 co-occurrences
0.522118,512 co-occurrences
0.50429,532 co-occurrences
0.424109,404 co-occurrences
0.42316,338 co-occurrences
jiù
0.39343,926 co-occurrences
yùn
0.39233,648 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (16)

bā qián suàn hòuHSK 4+

thinking and pondering (idiom); to turn sth over in one's mind; to consider repeatedly

phrase
jīngdǎxìsuànHSK 4+

careful calculation and strict budgeting

phrase
jiǔ zhāng suàn shùHSK 4+

The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art

phrase
lǎomóushēnsuànHSK 7+

experienced and astute; circumspect and far-seeing; scheming and calculating

phrase
mǎn dǎ mǎn suànHSK 3+

taking everything into account (idiom); when all is said and done

phrase
néngxiěhuìsuànHSK 3+

to be literate and numerate

phrase
nián dù yù suànHSK 4+

annual budget

phrase
qūzhǐyīsuànHSK 6+

to count; to calculate

phrase
rúyìsuànpánHSK 3+

one's wishful thinking; counting the chickens before they are hatched

phrase
shénjīmiàosuànHSK 6+

brilliant intelligence; brilliant foresight

phrase
shuōhuàsuànhuàHSK 3+

to be as good as one's word; to be true to one's word; to keep one's word

phrase
sì zé yùn suànHSK 4+

the four basic operations of arithmetic (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division)

phrase

Showing 12 of 16 idioms containing .

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

字在不同的语境中有不同的用法。

suàn zì zài bù tóng de yǔ jìng zhōng yǒu bù tóng de yòng fǎ .

The character "算" has different usages in different contexts.

99 健康网Feb 2026

...食品有哪些东西?代糖饼干、无糖豆浆、黑巧

. . . shí pǐn yǒu nǎ xiē dōng xī ? dài táng bǐng gān , wú táng dòu jiāng , hēi qiǎo suàn ma

... What are the food products? Sugar substitute biscuits, sugar-free soy milk, black calculations?

99 健康网Feb 2026

麦芽糖醇属于无糖食品吗?它国标定义的“糖”

mài yá táng chún shǔ yú wú táng shí pǐn ma ? tā suàn bù suàn guó biāo dìng yì de táng

Is maltitol a sugar-free food? Is it considered "sugar" as defined by the national standard

Yahoo FinanceFeb 2026

业界倡上调基本免税额一成 预案料难大派糖 吁多照顾打工仔

yè jiè chàng shàng diào jī běn miǎn shuì é yī chéng yù suàn àn liào nán dà pài táng xū duō zhào gù dǎ gōng zǐ

The industry advocates raising the basic tax allowance by 10%, and the budget is expected to be difficult to distribute sugar and call for more care for workers

風傳媒Feb 2026

台海开战就没有iPhone了?专家指苹果力、制造太依赖两岸:决策近乎失职

tái hǎi kāi zhàn jiù méi yǒu i P h o n e le ? zhuān jiā zhǐ píng guǒ suàn lì , zhì zào tài yī lài liǎng àn : jué cè jìn hū shī zhí

There will be no iPhone at the start of the war in the Taiwan Strait? Experts point out that Apple's computing power and manufacturing are too dependent on both sides of the strait: decision-making is almost derelict

Yahoo FinanceFeb 2026

“启德海湾”第2期部署短期推出 冀《预案》推利好楼市措施

qǐ dé hǎi wān dì 2 qī bù shǔ duǎn qī tuī chū 冀 yù suàn àn tuī lì hǎo lóu shì cuò shī

The second phase of "Kai Tak Bay" will be launched in the short term, hoping that the "Budget" will promote measures that will benefit the property market

Tatoeba

你打在这个国家待多久?

Nǐ dǎsuàn zài zhège guójiā dāi duōjiǔ?

How long do you plan to stay in this country?

Tatoeba

今年夏天你打去哪里玩啊?

Jīnnián xiàtiān nǐ dǎsuàn qù nǎlǐ wán ā?

Where do you want to go this summer?

Tatoeba

我们打去登山,你也去吗?

Wǒmen dǎsuàn qù dēngshān, nǐ yě qù ma?

We're going up into the mountains, so why don't you come with us?

Tatoeba

你放假打去什么地方玩呢?

Nǐ fàngjià dǎsuàn qù shénme dìfang wán ne?

Where are you going to go on your vacation?

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced suàn

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 算 (suàn) mean in Chinese?
算 (suàn) primarily means "to regard as." It is classified as HSK Level 3, making it a beginner-level character. It ranks #403 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 算 have?
算 is written with 14 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 算?
The radical associated with 算 is 竹 (bamboo). This radical appears in many characters related to bamboo.
What are the components of 算?
算 is composed of: ⺮ (structural), 具 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱⺮具 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 算?
Common words with 算 include: 打算 (dǎ suàn, "to plan"); 算是 (suàn shì, "considered to be"); 总算 (zǒng suàn, "at long last"); 说了算 (shuō le suàn, "to have the final say"); 就算 (jiù suàn, "(coll.) even if"). There are over 100 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 算 (suàn)?
Several characters share the pronunciation suàn: 酸 (sour), 蒜 (garlic). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 算 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 算 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.