三五成群

sānwǔ-chéngqún

idiom #57,322

Meanings

HSK 7-9

学生们三五成群地走出校门。

Xuésheng men sānwǔ-chéngqún de zǒu chū xiàomén.

The students walked out of the school gate in little clusters.

HSK 7-9

公园里人们三五成群，或聊天，或下棋。

Gōngyuán lǐ rénmen sānwǔ-chéngqún, huò liáotiān, huò xiàqí.

In the park people were clustered in small groups, some chatting, others playing chess.

usage

Almost always functions as an adverb with 地. The image is small, loose knots of people - not a crowd, not individuals, somewhere in between.

三 sān

五 wǔ

成 chéng

群 qún