HSK 1 · Numbers

四 sì “four” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 四 means

  1. four
  2. 4

How to say 四

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale四sì4th tone, falling

四 in a sentence

  1. 我比你小四个月。

    Wǒ bǐ nǐ xiǎo sì ge yuè.

    I am four months younger than you.

    Sentence #382979 from Tatoeba

  2. 二加三加四的和是九。

    Èr jiā sān jiā sì de hé shì jiǔ.

    The sum of two plus three plus four is nine.

    Sentence #13124237 from Tatoeba

How 四 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 四 (sì) with each of its parts in a different colour
四sìfour
  • 囗enclosure · wéi
  • 儿legs · ér

How to write 四

四 5 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

四 (sì) stroke order chart: each stroke of the character in the order you write it
Stroke order chart for 四 (sì). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 四

Words with 四

四季sìjì · the four seasons四肢sìzhī · limbs丢三落四diūsānlàsì · forgetful

More words: Numbers & Money

一yī · one二èr · two三sān · three五wǔ · five六liù · six七qī · seven八bā · eight次cì · times

FAQs

四 (sì) means “four” or “4”. It is an HSK 1 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it sì: sì with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 四 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type si with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 四 from the suggestions. Typing si into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
四 is an HSK 1 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.

Book a free intro call

Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.