Dictionary › 三

三

sān

HSK 1 Character

What 三 means

1. three
2. 3

Other readings

三 is 多音字 — it is read more than one way, and the reading changes the meaning.

• Sānsurname San

Example sentences

• 狡兔三窟。
  Jiǎotùsānkū.
  A fox is not caught twice in the same snare.
• 快三时了。
  It is almost three.
• 数到三十。
  Count to thirty.
• 我三十岁。
  I'm thirty.
• 今天三号。
  Today is the 3rd.
• 现在三点。
  It is three o'clock right now.

Words starting with 三

• 三角sān jiǎotriangle; (math) trigonometry (abbr. for 三角学
• 三十sān shíthirty; 30
• 三月Sān yuèMarch; third month (of the lunar year)
• 三星sān xīngthree major stars of the Three Stars 参宿; the belt of Orion; three spirits 福
• 三轮车sān lún chēpedicab; tricycle
• 三五sān wǔseveral; three or five
• 三个代表Sān gè Dài biǎothe Three Represents, a set of three guiding principles for the CCP introduced by Jiang…
• 三峡Sān xiáThree Gorges on the Chang Jiang or Yangtze, namely: Qutang Gorge 瞿塘峡…
• 三八sān bāInternational Women's Day 妇女节; foolish; stupid
• 三角形sān jiǎo xíngtriangle
• 三宝sān bǎothe Three Precious Treasures of Buddhism, namely: the Buddha 佛, the Dharma 法…
• 三里屯Sān lǐ túnSanlitun (Beijing street name)
• 三三两两sān sān liǎng liǎngin twos and threes
• 三部曲sān bù qǔtrilogy; (fig.) three-stage process; three-part progression
• 三明治sān míng zhì(loanword) sandwich
• 三菱Sān língMitsubishi (Japanese conglomerate)
• 三维sān wéithree-dimensional; 3D
• 三国演义Sān guó Yǎn yìRomance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong 罗贯中
• 三天两头sān tiān liǎng tóulit. twice every three days (idiom); practically every day; frequently
• 三更sān gēngthird of the five night watch periods 23:00-01:00 (old); midnight; also pr. sān jīn
• 三通sān tōngT-joint; T-piece; T-pipe
• 三联书店Sān lián Shū diànJoint Publishing, bookstore chain and publisher, founded in Hong Kong in 1948
• 三言两语sān yán liǎng yǔin a few words (idiom); expressed succinctly
• 三藏Sān zàngTripitaka, the three main types of text that collectively constitute the Buddhist canon…

Words containing 三

• 再三zài sānover and over again; again and again
• 丢三落四diū sān là sìforgetful; empty-headed
• 星期三Xīng qī sānWednesday
• 十三shí sānthirteen; 13
• 初三chū sānthird year in junior middle school; third day of a lunar month
• 张三Zhāng SānZhang San, name for an unspecified person, first of a series of three: 张三; (dialect) wolf
• 周三Zhōu sānWednesday
• 珠三角Zhū Sān jiǎoPearl River Delta
• 其三qí sānthirdly; the third
• 接二连三jiē èr lián sān(idiom) one after another; in quick succession
• 长三角Cháng Sān jiǎoYangtze River Delta (abbr. for 长江三角洲
• 一日三餐yī rì sān cānto have three meals a day
• 珠江三角洲Zhū jiāng Sān jiǎo zhōuPearl River Delta (PRD)
• 大年三十dà nián sān shílast day of the lunar year; Chinese New Year's Eve
• 火冒三丈huǒ mào sān zhàngto get really angry
• 举一反三jǔ yī fǎn sānto raise one and infer three; to deduce many things from one case (idiom)
• 隔三差五gé sān chà wǔ(idiom) every few days; every once in a while
• 说三道四shuō sān dào sìto make thoughtless remarks (idiom); to criticize; gossip
• 东三省Dōng sān Shěngthe three provinces of Northeast China, namely: Liaoning Province 辽宁省
• 吴三桂Wú Sān guìWu Sangui (1612-1678), Chinese general who let the Manchus into China and helped them…
• 不三不四bù sān bù sì(idiom) dubious; shady; neither one thing nor the other; neither fish nor fowl…
• 瘪三biē sān(Wu dialect) bum; wretched-looking tramp who lives by begging or stealing
• 一波三折yī bō sān zhécalligraphic flourish with many twists; fig. many twists and turns
• 金三角Jīn sān jiǎoGolden Triangle (Southeast Asia)

Sounds the same

Read sān, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 叁three (banker's anti-fraud numeral)
• 〣numeral 3 in the Suzhou numeral system 苏州码子
• 弎archaic variant of 叁, banker's anti-fraud numeral three
• 毵long-haired; shaggy
• 鬖wild hair
• 叄variant of 叁