Meaning
mountain; hill
Chinese: 山、山地。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “shan” becomes a different word in each tone. 山 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
- 爬山pá shānto go for a hike (esp. in the hills or mountains)
- 登山dēng shānto climb a mountain; climbing; mountaineering
- 山区shān qūmountain area
- 山顶shān dǐnghilltop
- 山谷shān gǔvalley; ravine
Example Sentence
这座山的风景很美。Zhè zuò shān de fēng jǐng hěn měi.The scenery of this mountain is beautiful.
这Zhèthis座zuòseat山shānmountain的deof风景fēng jǐngscenery很hěnvery美měi(bound form) the Americas 。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
A pictograph of a mountain range: three peaks rising from a single base line.
A way to remember it
Three peaks side by side — a tall one in the middle.
Easy to confuse with
- 出‘To go out’: looks like two 山 stacked, but it is a separate character meaning ‘exit’.