mountain, hill, peak

JLPT N1 3 strokes

Words with this Kanji

Basic Meaning

The character (shān) primarily means "mountain" or "hill." It refers to natural elevated landforms and is commonly used in everyday conversation when talking about geography, hiking, or nature.

Common Uses

  • Talking about physical mountains or hills: e.g., 爬山 (pá shān) means "to hike/climb a mountain."
  • Describing landscape features: 山顶 (shān dǐng) means "mountain peak."
  • Referring to smaller hills or mounds in casual speech.

Collocations and Patterns

  • 爬山 (pá shān): to climb a mountain, go hiking.
  • 山顶 (shān dǐng): mountain top or peak.
  • (shān lù): mountain road or path.

Usage Notes

When using , it usually denotes a natural feature rather than a man-made one. It can be combined with other words to specify size or type, such as (big mountain) or (small hill). In conversation, 爬山 is a very common phrase to talk about hiking or mountain climbing.

Common Confusion

is sometimes confused with (lǐng), which means "mountain ridge." is more general and can refer to any mountain or hill, while specifically refers to a ridge or range.

Example Sentences

Let's go hiking on the mountain this weekend.

That mountain is very tall, and its peak is covered with snow all year

There is a small hill near his house, and the scenery is beautiful.