岁 (suì): years old, classifier for years (of age), year
岁 (suì) is a Chinese character meaning “years old.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 山 (structural) and 夕 (structural). It ranks #772 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Definitions
- years old
- classifier for years (of age)
- year
Stroke Order
Practice writing 岁 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 岁
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 岁月noun | suì yuè | years | 6 |
| 岁数noun | suì shu | age (number of years old) | 6 |
| 压岁钱noun | yā suì qián | money given to children as a gift on Chinese New Year's Eve | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 万岁 | wàn suì | Long live (the king, the revolution etc)! |
| 年岁 | nián suì | years of age |
| 周岁 | zhōu suì | one full year (e.g. on child's first birthday) |
| 太岁 | tài suì | Tai Sui, God of the year |
| 峥嵘岁月 | zhēng róng suì yuè | eventful years (idiom) |
| 岁末 | suì mò | end of the year |
| 贺岁 | hè suì | to extend New Year's greetings |
| 岁暮 | suì mù | end of the year |
| 岁不我与 | suì bù wǒ yǔ | Time and tide wait for no man (idiom) |
| 百岁老人 | bǎi suì lǎo rén | centenarian |
| 岁月如流 | suì yuè rú liú | the passage of the years |
| 岁时 | suì shí | season |
| 岁出 | suì chū | annual expenditure |
| 安太岁 | ān tài suì | to propitiate the god of the current year, Tai Sui 太歲|太岁[Tai4 sui4] |
| 去岁 | qù suì | last year |
岁 appears in 49 compound words: 47 as the first character, 45 as the last, and 8 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 岁 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (7)
Example Sentences
岁字在不同的语境中有不同的用法。
suì zì zài bù tóng de yǔ jìng zhōng yǒu bù tóng de yòng fǎ .
The character "岁" has different usages in different contexts.
“民歌50”唱进湾区,共赴岁月的约定
mín gē 5 0 chàng jìn wān qū , gòng fù suì yuè de yuē dìng
"Folk Song 50" sung into the Bay Area and went to the agreement of the years
...A官方公布鼓手真矢不敌病情离世 终年56岁
. . . A guān fāng gōng bù gǔ shǒu zhēn shǐ bù dí bìng qíng lí shì zhōng nián 5 6 suì
... A official announcement drummer Maya passed away at the age of 56
搭完邮轮有“离船症候群”?30-60岁女性最常见
dā wán yóu lún yǒu lí chuán zhèng hòu qún ? 3 0 6 0 suì nǚ xìng zuì cháng jiàn
After a cruise, "disembarkation syndrome" is most common among women aged 30-60
快讯/闯入川普海湖庄园遭击毙 21岁嫌身分曝光!家人才刚报失踪
kuài xùn chuǎng rù chuān pǔ hǎi hú zhuāng yuán zāo jī bì 2 1 suì xián shēn fēn pù guāng ! jiā rén cái gāng bào shī zōng
News/Breaking into Trump's Mar-a-Lago was killed and the identity of the 21-year-old suspect was exposed! The family has just been reported missing
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
你几岁交了第一个女朋友？
Nǐ jǐsuì jiāo le dìyī gè nǚpéngyou?
At what age did you have your first girlfriend?
你知道中野小姐几岁吗？
Nǐ zhīdào Zhōngyě xiǎojie jǐ suì ma?
Do you know how old Miss Nakano is?
您父母多大岁数了？
Nín fùmǔ duōdà suìshu le?
How old are your parents?
你想到几岁才结婚呢？
Nǐ xiǎng dào jǐ suì cái jiéhūn ne?
At what age do you want to get married?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 岁 (suì) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 岁 have?
What is the radical of 岁?
What are the components of 岁?
What are common words containing 岁?
What characters sound the same as 岁 (suì)?
Is 岁 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 岁 with real-time feedback
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