三五成群 (sān wǔ chéng qún) — in small groups (of three to five people)

Definition

Idiom meaning people gathering or moving in small clusters. Typically used as an adverbial (∼地) before a verb like 走, 坐, 逛.

idiom
in small groups (of three to five people)

Examples

  • ，三五成群。
    Xià kè yǐ hòu, xué shēng men sān wǔ chéng qún dì zǒu chū jiào shì.
    After class, the students walked out of the classroom in small groups.
  • ，三五成群。
    Gōng yuán lǐ, rén men sān wǔ chéng qún dì zuò zài cǎo dì shàng liáo tiān.
    In the park, people sat on the grass in small groups chatting.
  • ，三五成群。
    Zhōu mò de yè shì shàng, yóu kè sān wǔ chéng qún dì guàng lái guàng qù.
    At the weekend night market, tourists wandered around in small groups.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

三五three or five
三sānthree五wǔfive
联合Side by side
成群form a group
成chéngbecome/form群qúngroup
动宾Verb + object

三 and 五, small numbers of people, 成 and 群, form a group, so people gather in small groups.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

三 is drawn as three parallel strokes, like 一 with one stroke and 二 with two.

Open 三 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

An older form had a crossed mark between a top bar and a bottom bar. The modern 五 keeps those bars, while the original idea is uncertain.

Open 五 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
戊戊wù
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng成chéng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

成 puts 戊, a weapon, beside 丁, which gives the sound. The weapon part relates to protection, as in the old sense of city walls.

Open 成 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
羊羊yáng
Sound part声符shēngfú
君
君jūn群
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

群 pairs 羊, a sheep, to point to a herd or group, with 君 giving the sound.

Open 群 →

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