HSK 6 · Verbs

领先 lǐngxiān “to lead” in Chinese

Traditional 領先

What 领先 means

  1. to lead
  2. to be in front
  3. to be ahead

How to say 领先

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale领lǐng3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale先xiān1st tone, high and level

领先 in a sentence

  1. 你领先。

    Nǐ lǐngxiān.

    You’re in the lead.

    Sentence #11924115 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  2. 人生是一次长跑，暂时的落后和领先都不算什么。

    Rénshēng shì yí cì chángpǎo, zànshí de luòhòu hé lǐngxiān dōu bú suàn shénme.

    Life is a long-distance race; falling behind or getting ahead for a while doesn’t count for much.

    Sentence #2555665 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 领先 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 领 (lǐng) with each of its parts in a different colour
领lǐngneck
  • 令command · língSound part
  • 页page · xiéMeaning part

页 hints at the meaning (page); 令 (líng) hints at the sound. Compare it with lǐng.

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.

How to write 领先

领 11 strokes · 先 6 strokes

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

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

Words related to 领先

Words with 领

领导lǐngdǎo · leader本领běnlǐng · skill领域lǐngyù · domain系领带jì lǐngdài · to tie a tie领土lǐngtǔ · territory领会lǐnghuì · to understand领悟lǐngwù · to comprehend带领dàilǐng · to lead率领shuàilǐng · to lead纲领gānglǐng · guiding principles

Words with 先

先生xiānsheng · mr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先进xiānjìn · advanced优先yōuxiān · priority

More words: Common Verbs

扩张kuòzhāng · to expand捞lāo · to fish out晾liàng · to dry in the air or sun淋lín · to drench力求lìqiú · to strive to溜liū · to slip away流浪liúlàng · to wander留念liúniàn · to keep as a memento

FAQs

领先 (lǐngxiān) means “to lead” or “to be in front”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it lǐngxiān: lǐng with a 3rd tone, then xiān with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 领先 is written 領先. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type lingxian with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 领先 from the suggestions. Typing lingxian into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
领先 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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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.