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三级 (sān jí) — third class; grade 3; level 3

Definition

三级 means 'third level / Grade 3' (e.g. 三级甲等 hospital rating, or a third-place ranking in competition). At HSK 7 it usually reads as a technical certification tier rather than a school grade.

noun
third classgrade 3level 3

Examples

  • 三级。
    Zhè jiā yī yuàn bèi píng wéi sān jí jiǎ děng.
    This hospital was rated as Grade 3A.
  • 三级。
    Tā zài quán guó bǐ sài zhōng huò dé le sān jí.
    He received a third-place award in the national competition.
  • 三级。
    Nà ge chǎn pǐn tōng guò le sān jí ān quán rèn zhèng.
    That product passed the Level 3 safety certification.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

三sānthird
级jílevel

'三' gives third or three, '级' gives level; together they name the third level.

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 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 級; 级 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糹Written in full as糸mìthread
Sound part声符shēngfú
及
及jí級jí
Same sound today

The traditional form 級 has 糹 (thread) and 及 as a sound part; its original sense was a sequence related to silk. The simplified 级 is a later shorthand.

Open 级 →
Appears in
Numbers & Counting

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