HSK 5 · Function Words

事先 shìxiān “in advance” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 事先 means

  1. in advance
  2. before the event
  3. beforehand
  4. prior

How to say 事先

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale事shì4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale先xiān1st tone, high and level

事先 in a sentence

  1. 请你事先把计划告诉我。

    Qǐng nǐ shìxiān bǎ jìhuà gàosu wǒ.

    Please tell me the plan in advance.

    Sentence #421771 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  2. 你必须事先预约。

    Nǐ bìxū shìxiān yùyuē.

    You have to book in advance.

    Sentence #875096 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  3. 事先打个招呼，别叫我临时抓瞎。

    Shìxiān dǎ ge zhāohu, bié jiào wǒ línshí zhuāxiā.

    Give me a heads-up beforehand – don’t leave me scrambling at the last minute.

    Sentence #3709297 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 事先 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 事 (shì) with each of its parts in a different colour
事shìmatter
  • 一one · yī
  • 口mouth · kǒu
  • 彐snout · jì
  • 亅hook · jué
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 事先

事 8 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.

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

Words related to 事先

Words with 事

事shì · matter没事méishì · it’s nothing事情shìqing · matter同事tóngshì · colleague故事gùshi · story从事cóngshì · to engage in人事rénshì · personnel军事jūnshì · military affairs事实shìshí · fact事物shìwù · thing

Words with 先

先生xiānsheng · mr先xiān · first首先shǒuxiān · first (of all)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

More words: Function Words & Grammar

始终shǐzhōng · from beginning to end似的shìde · as if首shǒu · measure word for songs and poems似乎sìhū · it seems随时suíshí · at any time随手suíshǒu · as you go所suǒ · (grammar particle introducing a passive or relative clause)套tào · set

FAQs

事先 (shìxiān) means “in advance” or “before the event”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it shìxiān: shì with a 4th 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.
Yes. 事先 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type shixian with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 事先 from the suggestions. Typing shixian into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
事先 is an HSK 5 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.