三 — Three

Meaning

The kanji 三 means three. Its origins trace back thousands of years to oracle bone script in ancient China. The character is a pure indicative ideograph — rather than depicting a physical object, it represents an abstract quantity through visual counting.

Three horizontal strokes, stacked vertically. Each stroke stands for one unit. Count the strokes in 一 (one stroke) and 二 (two strokes) and the logic is obvious. Early writing systems often started with tally marks like these, and 三 never needed to evolve beyond that original form.

At only 3 strokes, 三 is among the simplest kanji you will encounter. It belongs to Grade 1 of the Japanese elementary curriculum — taught to six-year-olds in their first year of school. For the JLPT, it sits at the N5 level. Learning 三 opens access to dozens of compounds: dates, clock times, shapes, and place names all built on this one character.

Readings

On'yomi (音読み) — Chinese-derived readings

On'yomi come from ancient Chinese pronunciation and appear mainly in formal compounds and vocabulary of Chinese origin.

サン (san) — The reading every beginner learns first, and by far the most common. It appears in dates, times, and a wide range of everyday compound words.

• 三月さんがつ (sangatsu) — March (literally "third month")
• 三角さんかく (sankaku) — triangle ("three corners")
• 三時さんじ (sanji) — three o'clock

ゾウ (zō) — An archaic reading with almost no presence in modern Japanese. It survives in a handful of classical texts and is listed here for completeness. N5 learners can safely set it aside.

Kun'yomi (訓読み) — Native Japanese readings

Kun'yomi are native Japanese words paired with this kanji for their shared meaning. These appear when 三 is used alone or within native Japanese expressions.

み (mi) — The root form, found in traditional counting and compound native words.

• 三日みっか (mikka) — the third day of the month; also three days
• 三つ子みつご (mitsugo) — triplets

み.つ (mitsu) — Appears in traditional or literary contexts to indicate "three of something."

• 三叉路みつまた (mitsumata) — a three-way junction or fork in the road

みっ.つ (mittsu) — The everyday form for counting three generic objects. Use this when the Chinese-style サン counter does not apply.

• 三つみっつください (mittsu kudasai) — Please give me three
• 三つ折りみつおり (mitsuori) — tri-fold; folded into thirds

Common Words & Compounds

三 appears across a wide range of everyday vocabulary. Here are commonly used compound words grouped by theme.

Numbers and Time

• 三さん (san) — three (standalone)
• 三月さんがつ (sangatsu) — March
• 三時さんじ (sanji) — three o'clock
• 三日みっか (mikka) — third day of the month; three days
• 三週間さんしゅうかん (sanshūkan) — three weeks

Shapes and Directions

• 三角さんかく (sankaku) — triangle
• 三角形さんかくけい (sankakukei) — triangular shape
• 三叉路みつまた (mitsumata) — three-way intersection

People and Groups

• 三人さんにん (sannin) — three people
• 三つ子みつご (mitsugo) — triplets
• 三兄弟さんきょうだい (sankyōdai) — three siblings; trio of brothers

Ordinal and Sequential

• 三番さんばん (sanban) — number three; third place
• 三回さんかい (sankai) — three times
• 三度さんど (sando) — three times; three degrees

Cultural and Idiomatic

• 三味線しゃみせん (shamisen) — traditional three-stringed instrument
• 三権分立さんけんぶんりつ (sanken bunritsu) — separation of the three branches of government
• 三連休さんれんきゅう (sanrenkyū) — three-day holiday weekend

Example Sentences

Related Kanji

• 十 — Ten (Kanji N5)
• 七 — Seven (Kanji N5)
• 気 — Spirit, Energy, Air (Kanji N5)
• 百 — Hundred (Kanji N5)
• 二 — Two (Kanji N5)
• 千 — Thousand (Kanji N5)

Memory Tip

Three lines. Three strokes. The character literally counts itself. If you ever mix up 三 and 二, just count the horizontal strokes — the kanji gives you the answer.

For the on'yomi san, it sounds close to the English word "sun." Picture three suns in the sky to lock in both the meaning and the reading サン at once.

Vietnamese speakers will recognize the Hán-Việt reading TAM right away — it appears in tam giác (triangle) and tam quốc (three kingdoms), making the connection between Japanese and Vietnamese immediately concrete.