驷 meaning and stroke order
A team of four horses
How to write 驷, stroke by stroke
8 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 驷
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- team of 4 horses
How 驷 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. Four 四 horses 马; 四 also provides the pronunciation.
Radical: 马 (horse), shared by 54 characters on this site.
How to remember 驷
驷 puts a horse 马 (mǎ) next to the number four 四 (sì), so it means four horses pulling together. The 四 side also gives the sound, so 驷 is read sì just like four.
驷 is a literary character that rarely appears alone in modern speech. Most people know it from the idiom 驷马难追 (sì mǎ nán zhuī), meaning a spoken word cannot be taken back. Example: 一言既出，驷马难追。(Yì yán jì chū, sì mǎ nán zhuī.) Once a word is spoken, even a team of four horses cannot catch it.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes write 四马 instead of 驷马 in the idiom, or they leave the horse radical off. Keep the tone as fourth tone sì, the same as 四, and do not confuse it with 驶 (shǐ, to drive), which also has 马 on the left.
驷 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 驷
How many strokes are in 驷?
驷 is written with 8 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 驷 mean?
驷 (sì) means a team of four horses.
How do you pronounce 驷?
驷 is pronounced sì, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 驷?
The radical of 驷 is 马, which carries the idea of "horse". Dictionaries list 驷 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 驷?
The traditional form of 驷 is 駟. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 驷 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
What does 驷马难追 mean and when do people say it?
It means that once you say something, you cannot take it back, even with a fast four horse chariot. People use it to stress that a promise must be kept, often after 一言既出 (yì yán jì chū).
Is 驷 used in everyday modern Chinese?
Not really. Outside of the idiom 驷马难追 and classical texts about ancient chariots, you will seldom see it. It is more useful to recognize than to actively use.