五 wǔ — five; 5
我每天工作五个小时。Wǒ měi tiān gōng zuò wǔ ge xiǎo shí.I work five hours every day.
Common words: 五颜六色 (wǔ yán liù sè)、五星级 (wǔ xīng jí)、五花八门 (wǔ huā bā mén)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "five"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "five", including 五 (wǔ), 伍 (wǔ). Study pinyin, English meanings, traditional forms, common words, and examples.
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "five" covers 2 different Chinese characters — 五 (wǔ), 伍 (wǔ) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 2 characters happen to share the reading wǔ, so lean on the words and written forms to tell them apart. The example sentences further down show how 五 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 五 wǔfive; 5Useful words: 五颜六色, 五星级
- 伍 wǔassociate with; five; companyUseful words: 队伍, 为伍
Common words for these 2 "five" characters
Anchor each of these 2 characters in a word you can picture — start with 五 (wǔ) — so "five" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
See each character in a sentence
Each character below is shown in a short example sentence with pinyin and an English translation — the quickest way to feel the difference between the 2 ways to say "five".
伍 wǔ — associate with; five; company
长大以后，他光荣地加入了军队的队伍。Zhǎng dà yǐ hòu, tā guāng róng de jiā rù le jūn duì de duì wu.When he grew up, he proudly joined the ranks of the army.
Common words: 队伍 (duì wǔ)、为伍 (wéi wǔ)、入伍 (rù wǔ)
All 2 characters
Open 五、伍 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.