HSK 1 · Family

先生 xiānsheng “mr” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 先生 means

  1. mr, sir
  2. teacher
  3. gentleman
  4. mister (Mr.)
  5. husband
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • (dialect) doctor

Measure word 位 wèi · 一位先生 yí wèi xiānsheng

How to say 先生

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale先xiān1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the neutral tone: short and light, with no contour of its own生shengneutral tone, light and short

Grey pinyin is a neutral tone: say it short and light. More on the neutral tone

先生 in a sentence

  1. 你认识高先生吗？

    Nǐ rènshi Gāo xiānsheng ma?

    Do you know Mr Gao?

    Sentence #10966853 from Tatoeba

  2. 谢谢您，先生。

    Xièxie nín, xiānsheng.

    Thank you, sir.

    Sentence #710691 from Tatoeba

  3. 史密斯先生是个好老师。

    Shǐmìsī xiānsheng shì ge hǎo lǎoshī.

    Mr Smith is a good teacher.

    Sentence #785800 from Tatoeba

How 先生 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 先 (xiān) drawn as one shape
先xiānbeforehand; first; earlier

先 is a single shape of 6 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidA foot 止 out in front of a person 儿: ahead, first.

The character 生 (shēng) drawn as one shape
生shēngto grow; to give birth; to producelight in 先生

生 is a single shape of 5 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidA shoot growing up out of the soil 土: to grow, to be born.

How to write 先生

先 6 strokes · 生 5 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

先生 (xiānsheng) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 先生 (xiānsheng). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 先生

Words with 先

先xiān · first首先shǒuxiān · first (of all)事先shìxiān · in advance祖先zǔxiān · ancestor先前xiānqián · before原先yuánxiān · originally预先yùxiān · in advance领先lǐngxiān · to lead先进xiānjìn · advanced优先yōuxiān · priority

Words with 生

医生yīshēng · doctor学生xuésheng · student大学生dàxuéshēng · university student小学生xiǎoxuéshēng · primary school student中学生zhōngxuéshēng · middle-school student生日shēngrì · birthday生病shēngbìng · to get sick生气shēngqì · angry女生nǚshēng · female student男生nánshēng · male student

More words: People, Body & Health

朋友péngyou · friend医生yīshēng · doctor老师lǎoshī · teacher学生xuésheng · student小姐xiǎojiě · miss同学tóngxué · classmate哪些nǎxiē · which ones?那些nàxiē · those

FAQs

先生 (xiānsheng) means “mr, sir” or “teacher”. It is an HSK 1 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it xiānsheng: xiān with a 1st tone, then sheng with a neutral tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 先生 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Use 位 (wèi). For example, one mr is 一位先生 (yí wèi xiānsheng).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type xiansheng with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 先生 from the suggestions. Typing xiansheng into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
先生 is an HSK 1 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.

Book a free intro call

Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.