HSK 3 · Function Words

先 xiān “first” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 先 means

  1. first
  2. early
  3. before
  4. beforehand
  5. earlier
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • at first
  • originally
  • for the time being
  • for now
  • (prefix) my late (in referring to deceased relatives older than oneself)

How to say 先

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale先xiān1st tone, high and level

先 in a sentence

  1. 好的，但我们先吃晚饭吧。

    Hǎo de, dàn wǒmen xiān chī wǎnfàn ba.

    OK, but let’s have dinner first.

    Sentence #333569 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 你在说话前应该先思考。

    Nǐ zài shuōhuà qián yīnggāi xiān sīkǎo.

    You should think before you speak.

    Sentence #530712 from Tatoeba

  3. 他们比我们先开始。

    Tāmen bǐ wǒmen xiān kāishǐ.

    They started before we did.

    Sentence #5550326 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 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 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 先

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.

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

Words related to 先

Words with 先

先生xiānsheng · mr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

More words: Particles & Connectors

然后ránhòu · then如果rúguǒ · if为wèi · for为了wèile · in order to向xiàng · direction像xiàng · be like一边yìbiān · one side又yòu · once again

FAQs

先 (xiān) means “first” or “early”. It is an HSK 3 word.
Say it xiān: xiān with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 先 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type xian with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 先 from the suggestions. Typing xian into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
先 is an HSK 3 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.