Meaning of 六
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- six
- 6
- used in place names
How to use 六
六 (liù) is the everyday word for six and combines with other numbers just like English, so 十六 (shíliù) is sixteen and 六十 (liùshí) is sixty. It also shows up in idioms like 五颜六色 (wǔyán-liùsè), meaning colorful. Example: 我六点起床。(Wǒ liù diǎn qǐchuáng.) I get up at six o'clock.
Picture 六 (liù) as a little house: the dot on top is the chimney, the flat line is the roof, and the two legs below spread out like walls. Imagine six people living in that small house.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 六 (liù) with 大 (dà, big) or 文 (wén, writing) because of the similar spreading legs. Remember that 六 has a dot on top and two separate short strokes below that do not cross.
六 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
六 liù · six · 4 strokes
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- 4
Related words
Words that share a character with 六.
Questions about 六
What does 六 mean?
六 (liù) means "six; 6" and is used as a numeral.
How do you write 六?
六 is made of 1 character: 六 (4 strokes). That is 4 strokes in total.
Is 六 an HSK word?
Yes. 六 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why do people in China say 六六六 (liù liù liù) online?
Because 六 (liù) sounds like 溜 (liū), as in being smooth or skillful, typing 666 is slang for praising someone as awesome. It is very common in comments and games.
When is 六 read as lù instead of liù?
The reading lù appears only in certain place names, such as 六安 (Lù'ān) in Anhui province. In all normal counting and everyday words, say liù with a fourth tone.