Where 先 comes from
Someone stepping 止 in front of another person 儿
How to write 先 (xiān, “beforehand”)
先 (xiān), an HSK 1 character, means “beforehand”, “at first” and “for the time being”. It is a character whose parts combine into its meaning. On its own it is an HSK 3 word; it also forms 先生 (“teacher”), 首先 (“first of all”) and 事先 (“in advance”). Japanese reads it sen, “before”, as a JLPT N5 kanji.
- Pinyin
- xiān
- Strokes
- 6
- HSK
- 1
- Radical
- 儿 (“legs”)
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
As a top-bottom character it splits into 土 (“earth”), strokes 2–4; 儿 (“legs”, the radical), strokes 5–6, written the top first.
- Left-falling stroke ㇒top leftdown and right → down and left
- Horizontal ㇐top leftrightwards
- Vertical ㇑topdownwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Left-falling stroke ㇒centerdownwards → down and left
- Vertical-curve-hook ㇟centerdownwards → rightwards → upwards
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 6 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| xiān first tone | beforehand; first; earlier; at first; originally; for the time being; for now; (prefix) my late (in referring to deceased relatives older than oneself) | — | 先生 首先 事先 先后 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 1
- 2021 standard
- level 1
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 1 word
- Words with it
- 122 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 先
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 先 | xiān | beforehand; first HSK 3 |
| 先生 | xiānsheng | teacher; gentleman HSK 1 |
| 首先 | shǒuxiān | first of all; in the first place HSK 4 |
| 事先 | shìxiān | in advance; before the event HSK 5 |
| 先后 先後 | xiānhòu | early or late; first and last HSK 5 |
| 先进 先進 | xiānjìn | sophisticated; advanced (technology etc) HSK 5 |
| 领先 領先 | lǐngxiān | to lead; to be in front HSK 5 |
| 先前 | xiānqián | before; previously HSK 6 |
| 优先 優先 | yōuxiān | to have priority; to take precedence HSK 6 |
| 原先 | yuánxiān | originally; original HSK 6 |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
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Contain it:
HSK 1, in list order: