How to say “three” in Chinese
three
“Three” in Chinese is 三, sān: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
三 is read sān. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
Three strokes.
Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “三”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 三. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 一二三四五yī,èr,sān,sì,wǔOne, two, three, four, five.
- 现在三点半xiànzàisāndiǎnbànIt's half past three.
- 明天下午三点。míngtiānxiàwǔsāndiǎnTomorrow at 3 p.m.
- 一个苹果三块钱yígepíngguǒsānkuàiqiánOne apple: three yuan.
- 我买了三个苹果。wǒmǎilesāngepíngguǒI bought three apples.
- 桌子上有三本书。zhuōzishangyǒusānběnshūThere are three books on the table.
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “Counting to five”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “three” in Chinese?
“Three” in Chinese is 三, pinyin sān.
What does 三 mean?
三 (sān) means “three”.
How do you write 三?
三 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 三?
三 is read sān. Tones: sān — first tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“three” in the lesson “Counting to five”
This word is from the topic “Family and people” of HSK 1. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.
Start for free