三四年

sānsìnián

phrase #34,893

Meanings

1 three or four years
2 a few years (vague duration)

Characters

Examples

我们已经三四年没见了。

Wǒmen yǐjīng sānsìnián méi jiàn le.

We haven't seen each other for three or four years.

学好中文大概要三四年。

Xuéhǎo Zhōngwén dàgài yào sānsìnián.

Learning Chinese well takes about three or four years.

Tips

grammar

Chinese expresses approximate quantities by stacking adjacent numbers: 三四年 ('3-4 years'), 五六个 ('5-6 of them'), 七八天 ('7-8 days'). No 'or' word needed — just put the two numbers together. Don't try this with non-adjacent numbers (三五年 also works, but 三七年 doesn't).

Stroke Order

三 sān

四 sì

年 nián