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千
qiān
thousand
这条河有两千公里长。
This river is two thousand kilometers long.
formal
The number 1,000; a cardinal number.
他存了五千块钱。
He saved five thousand yuan.
这本书有三百多页，不是一千页。
This book has over three hundred pages, not a thousand.
Used in counting, measurements, and quantities. Often combined with classifiers (e.g., 千克 for kilogram, 千米 for kilometer).
Related Phrases
Pro Tip
Combining with classifiers
千 is often paired with classifiers to form units (e.g., 千克 kg, 千米 km, 千瓦 kW). Memorize common combinations like 千克 (kilogram) and 千米 (kilometer) for practical use.
Gold Rule
Avoid ambiguity in writing
In formal Chinese, write numbers as digits (e.g., 1000) or use 一千 for clarity. Avoid ambiguous forms like '一千' in legal or financial documents where precision is critical.
Word Origin
From Old Chinese *s.n̥ʰeːn (thousand), cognate with Tibetan སྟོང་ (stong, 'ten thousand').
Usage Notes
In modern Chinese, 千 is rarely used alone in formal writing for exact numbers (e.g., 1000 is usually written as 一千 or 1,000). It appears in compounds like 千克 (kilogram) or 千米 (kilometer). In idioms, it often signifies 'many' or 'abundant' (e.g., 千军万马, 千变万化).
Word Breakdown
千
thousand
root汉英词典