Learn Chinese Characters

Meaning

forest

Chinese: 森林。

Hear the Four Tones

The same syllable “sen” becomes a different word in each tone. 森 is the 1st tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.

Stroke Order

Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.

Common Words

  • 森林sēn línforest
  • 森然sēn rán(of tall trees) dense, thick; awe-inspiring
  • 森罗sēn luómany things arranged together, or connected together; to go on limitlessly
  • 森严sēn yánstrict; rigid; tight (security)
  • 阴森yīn sēngloomy; sinister; eerie

Example Sentence

森林里的树木又高又密。Sēn lín lǐ de shù mù yòu gāo yòu mì.The trees in the forest are tall and dense.

森林Sēn línforestinsidedeof树木shù mùtreeyòuagaingāohighyòuagainname of an ancient state

Go deeper

Where this character comes from

Three trees (木) stacked up: trees on trees, so a deep, dense forest. It means ‘dense forest’ and, by extension, ‘thick / gloomy’.

A way to remember it

Three trees piled up — a thick forest.

Easy to confuse with

  • lín‘Woods’: only two trees — a lighter wood.