思 (sī) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

思

sī[si1]Tone 1

to think

HSK 2

Guru Deep Dive

English · to think

Cached lesson

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Topology:Top-bottom

Strokes:9

Writing Balance Rule: The top field (田) must be slightly compact and balanced, while the bottom heart component (心) expands gracefully outward with sweeping horizontal curves.

1. Meaning

to think, to consider

to ponderto miss, to long forthought, thinking process

Verb / NounNeutral#mental action#cognition#emotion

Sample Usage

让我想一想。
Ràng wǒ xiǎng yī xiǎng.
Let me think about it.
深思熟虑
shēnsī shúlǜ
careful deliberation, thorough consideration

2. Sound

/[sɿ˥]/Tone: 55

思

sīsi1

¯(55)

=sī

Initial Consonant

Type: Dental Fricative

Sounds like: s like in 'snake' or 'see'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Clear, steady sibilant hiss.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip held close to the back of the lower front teeth, creating a narrow gap for air friction.

Final Rhyme

i (-i*)

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: special apical vowel (similar to the buzzing sound in 'tz' or 'sz')

Note: Written as 'i (-i*)', pronounced as rounded 'i' [y].

Mouth Shape Guide: Combine initial 'zh-' (jr) with final '-i' (rr/zz).

Common Learner Trap: Do NOT pronounce '-i' as 'ee' after zh-! Keep your tongue in the consonant position and buzz 'rr/zz'.

Tone

T1 (55)

5 → 5 (55)

1st Tone (High-Flat)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 1 is a high, steady pitch maintained without rising or falling, matching the flat pitch of a musical tuning fork.

👂

Listening trap: Beginners often mistake the apical vowel after 's' for an English 'oo' sound or drop the high tone into a flat neutral tone.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A high, flat musical note, like hitting a single high key on a piano and holding it steady in the upper register.

3. Writing

Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 9 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The top field (田) must be slightly compact and balanced, while the bottom heart component (心) expands gracefully outward with sweeping horizontal curves.

4. Components

Radical 心 · Heart Radical (Heart, mind, feelings)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 心 (Indicates that the action of thinking stems from the heart and mind.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 田 (original sound: tián / sī phonetic clue)

A brain or head working over a farm field (田) or head imagery combined with the heart (心) below, showing that true thinking unites both mental focus and heartfelt consideration.

田 Top component representing the brain or a cultivated field of thought
心 Bottom component representing the heart and mind

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

7· Phonetic Root: 思 (sī)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally depicted a head/brain or skull combined with the heart, signifying mental operations and cognitive reflection originating from the center of human consciousness.

Semantic Evolution: Over centuries, the top portion evolved into the shape of a field (田) purely for writing convenience, while the bottom 'heart' (心) consistently anchored the meaning to thought, emotion, and longing.

In ancient philosophy, the heart and mind were considered a single organ of cognition, which explains why many thinking-related characters feature the heart radical.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: シ (shi) / Kun: おもう (omou)

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

사

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You plow your mental field (田) using your heart (心) whenever you sit down to think deeply about a problem.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

思

sīto thinkBase character with field over heart.

腮

sāicheeksAdds the flesh/moon radical (月) on the left for physical face parts.

鳃

sāifish gillsAdds the fish radical (鱼) on the left.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

恩(ēn)

Has 'cause/because' (因) on top instead of field (田), meaning 'kindness' or 'grace'.

田(tián)

Just the top part alone, meaning a farm field.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

请让我想一[___]再做决定。

Clue: sī

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the top component '田' with '因' or mispronouncing the apical 'si' vowel as an English 'suh' sound.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see the character 思 combining a field on top and a heart on the bottom, what does it mean and how is it pronounced?

Production: How do you write and pronounce the character for 'to think' (sī)?

思sīto think

Speed:

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