三

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three; 3

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Ideographic compound (会意字)

Three parallel lines; compare 一 (one) and 二 (two)

Components 一二

three · Heisig RSH #3

一 one + 二 two

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
三水区	Sān shuǐ Qū	Sanshui, a district of Foshan City 佛山市[Fo2 shan1 Shi4], Guangdong
三不	sān bù	the three no's (abbreviated catchphrase)
大三	dà sān	third year of university
三人行	sān rén xíng	(slang) threesome
三国	Sān guó	Three Kingdoms period (220–280) in Chinese history; any of several Three Kingdoms periods …
三水	Sān shuǐ	see 三水區\|三水区[San1 shui3 Qu1]
马三家	Mǎ sān jiā	Masanjia town in Yuhong District 于洪區\|于洪区[Yu2 hong2 Qu1] in Liaoning, known for its re-educ…
三无	sān wú	lacking three key attributes (or at least one of them)
三分头	sān fēn tóu	regular men's haircut; short back and sides
三自	Sān zì	abbr. for 三自愛國教會\|三自爱国教会[San1 zi4 Ai4 guo2 Jiao4 hui4], Three-Self Patriotic Movement
三小	sān xiǎo	(Tw) (vulgar) what the hell? (from Taiwanese 啥潲, Tai-lo pr. [siánn-siâ], equivalent to Man…
小三	xiǎo sān	mistress; the other woman (coll.); grade 3 in elementary school
三分之一	sān fēn zhī yī	one third
三门县	Sān mén Xiàn	Sanmen, a county in Taizhou City 台州市[Tai1 zhou1 Shi4], Zhejiang
三合一	sān hé yī	three in one; triple
三亚市	Sān yà Shì	Sanya, prefecture-level city in Hainan Province 海南省[Hai3 nan2 Sheng3]
三分	sān fēn	somewhat; to some degree
三体	sān tǐ	trisomy
长三	cháng sān	(old) high-class prostitute
三点水	sān diǎn shuǐ	name of "water" radical 氵[shui3] in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 85)

These characters use 三 as their sound component — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
三 sound part	sān	three
仨	sā	three (cannot be followed by a measure word)
闫	yán	village gate