Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 詩 / 诗 | shī |
| 詩篇 / 诗篇 | shīpiān |
| 詩歌 / 诗歌 | shīgē |
詩 means a poem or poetry in general. The single character is often used as a root in other words and in more formal or classical contexts.
Which one should you use?
詩歌 / 诗歌 (shīgē) is the standard term for poetry as a genre or for a collection of poems. 詩篇 / 诗篇 (shīpiān) is specifically used for the Psalms in the Bible, so it is not a general word for a poem. For classical poetry in Mandarin you can say 古诗 (gǔ shī).
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Cantonese, classical poetry is 古詩, romanized gu si. In the dialects of southern Fujian and Taiwan, the word for poem is also written 詩 and read si.
How does it change in a sentence?
When counting poems, use the measure word 首 (shǒu). One poem is 一首詩 / 一首诗. To talk about writing poetry, combine the verb 寫 (xiě), meaning to write, with 詩 to get 寫詩 / 写诗.
How do you pronounce it?
詩 is pronounced shī in pinyin, a single syllable with a high, level first tone.
What mistakes should you avoid?
Do not use 詩篇 for an ordinary poem, since it refers to the Psalms. Use 首 as the measure word when you count poems.
Did you know?
- The 詩經 (Shījīng), or 'Classic of Poetry', is the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry. It was so influential that for centuries, knowing its poems was a requirement for any government official.
- While 詩 refers to the poem itself, Chinese culture uses the term 詩意 (shīyì), meaning 'poetic intent', to describe a beautiful or melancholic atmosphere in a real-life scene.
- The measure word used to count poems is 首 (shǒu), which is also the character used for 'head' or 'chief'.
Example sentences for Chinese are not verified yet.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “poem” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
