HSK 1 · Measure Words

些 xiē “some” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 些 means

  1. some, a few
  2. classifier indicating a small amount or small number greater than 1: some, a few, several

How to say 些

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale些xiē1st tone, high and level

些 in a sentence

  1. 我买了些衣服。

    Wǒ mǎi le xiē yīfu.

    I have bought some clothes.

    Sentence #846455 from Tatoeba

  2. 他买了些花。

    Tā mǎi le xiē huā.

    He bought some flowers.

    Sentence #1409111 from Tatoeba

  3. 我给我们煮了些咖啡。

    Wǒ gěi wǒmen zhǔ le xiē kāfēi.

    I’ve made us some coffee.

    Sentence #9963193 from Tatoeba

How 些 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 些 (xiē) with each of its parts in a different colour
些xiēclassifier indicating a small amount or
  • 此this · cǐSound part
  • 二two · èrMeaning part

二 hints at the meaning (two); 此 (cǐ) hints at the sound. Compare it with xiē.

Memory aidThis 此 (cǐ) gives the sound; two 二 underneath suggests more than one: some, a few.

How to write 些

些 8 strokes

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

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

Words related to 些

Words with 些

哪些nǎxiē · which ones?那些nàxiē · those有些yǒuxiē · some这些zhèxiē · these一些yīxiē · some

More words: Measure Words & Counters

本běn · measure word for books个gè · general measure word块kuài · yuan (currency)岁suì · year(s) of age一点儿yìdiǎnr · a little

FAQs

些 (xiē) means “some, a few” or “classifier indicating a small amount or small number greater than 1: some, a few, several”. It is an HSK 1 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it xiē: xiē with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 些 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type xie with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 些 from the suggestions. Typing xie into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
些 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.