砂 (shā) is a Chinese character meaning “sand”. It is written from 石 (stone; rock) and 少 (few; little), side by side, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “sand; grit”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
石 + 少
Left–right structure
Structure from: Unicode U+7802 radical 112 (石)；hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：0–4 笔为石，5–8 笔为少；少 为声符（与同声符字 沙 shā 读音一致）
Memory aid
Stone (石) ground down until very little (少) of each piece is left. What remains is sand.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 砂石shā shísand and gravel砂 = shā
- 朱砂zhū shācinnabar砂 = shā
Go deeper
All readings
sand; grit
sand; grit; coarse granules (of sand or minerals)
细碎的石粒；也指颗粒粗的矿物，如「朱砂」。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 砂石shā shísand and gravel砂 = shā
- 朱砂zhū shācinnabar砂 = shā
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 砂 mean?
砂 (shā) means sand; grit; coarse granules (of sand or minerals).
How do you pronounce 砂?
It is pronounced shā.
What parts is 砂 made of?
石 (stone; rock) and 少 (few; little), side by side. The recorded source is: Unicode U+7802 radical 112 (石)；hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：0–4 笔为石，5–8 笔为少；少 为声符（与同声符字 沙 shā 读音一致）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 砂 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 砂?
石. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 砂?
Common ones are 砂石 and 朱砂. The reading of 砂 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.