Traditional: 韆
qiān HSK 2

English Meaning

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📚 Example Sentences

一千个人。
Yī qiān gè rén.
One thousand people.
我有一千元。
Wǒ yǒu yī qiān yuán.
I have one thousand yuan.
这本书一千页。
Zhè běn shū yī qiān yè.
This book has one thousand pages.
这本书要一千美元。
Zhè běn shū yào yī qiān měi yuán.
The book costs one thousand dollars.
成千上万的人参观了博物馆。
Chéng qiān shàng wàn de rén cān guān le bó wù guǎn.
Thousands of people visited the museum.

💡 Memory Tip

Think of 千 as looking like a person (人) standing on a crossbar, with the crossbar representing a milestone—imagine that person has reached 'a thousand' achievements. Alternatively, associate it with the sound 'qiān,' which rhymes with 'yen' (Japanese currency), but here it's for counting thousands in Chinese.

📝 Usage Notes

千 is neutral in tone and can be used in both formal and informal contexts, as well as in spoken and written Chinese. It is commonly used in everyday situations involving quantities, such as discussing prices (e.g., money), populations, distances, or statistical data. In formal writing, it may appear in reports or historical texts.

📖 Grammar Points

千 is used in numerical structures, often combined with other numerals and measure words. For example, '三千个人' (three thousand people) or '五千块钱' (five thousand yuan). It can also appear in idiomatic expressions like '千山万水' (thousands of mountains and rivers, meaning a long journey). In large numbers, it follows the Chinese place-value system: e.g., 一万二千 (12,000).

🏯 Cultural Notes

In Chinese culture, 千 can symbolize abundance or a large quantity, as seen in idioms like '千载难逢' (a rare opportunity once in a thousand years). It is also used in historical or poetic contexts to emphasize scale, such as in '千里马' (a thousand-li horse, meaning a talented person).

🔄 Similar Words

Unlike 百 (bǎi, hundred) or 万 (wàn, ten thousand), 千 specifically denotes the thousand unit. It differs from 仟, an archaic or formal variant sometimes used in financial contexts, but 千 is standard in modern usage. Compared to 千, 万 represents a larger magnitude (10,000).

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