The kanji 三: meaning, readings and stroke order

三

Meaning: three
On reading: サン san
Kun reading: み mi、み（つ） mitsu、みっ（つ） mittsu
Strokes: 3
Radical: 一 one
Level: Level 1 · grade 1

Stroke order

Meaning in other languages

Vietnamese: số ba (tam)
Japanese: かずのさん。みっつ。
Korean: 셋 (삼)
Chinese: 数字三

Readings, words and example sentences

サン san · on reading

三さん年ねん生せい
third grader
あには 三さん年ねん生せいです。
My big brother is in third grade.

み mi · kun reading

三み日か月づき
crescent moon
そらに 三み日か月づきが出ています。
There is a crescent moon in the sky.

み（つ） mitsu · kun reading · less common

三みつ編あみ
braid (three strands)
かみを 三つ編みみつあみにします。
I braid my hair.

みっ（つ） mittsu · kun reading

三みっつ
three (things)
りんごが 三みっつ あります。
There are three apples.

Practise writing 三 in the app

In Dino Kids your child writes 三 with a finger and every stroke is checked, then takes the Level 1 practice test. Free, no ads, no in-app purchases.

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Readings, radicals: Kanjium, KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); strokes: KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); Korean, simplified forms: Unicode Unihan. Meanings, sentences: Dino Kids (CC0). See Licences.