HSK 6 · Time

预先 yùxiān “in advance” in Chinese

Traditional 預先

What 预先 means

  1. in advance
  2. beforehand

How to say 预先

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale预yù4th 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

预先 in a sentence

  1. 您必须预先付钱。

    Nín bìxū yùxiān fùqián.

    You must pay in advance.

    Sentence #787172 from Tatoeba

  2. 凡事要预先准备好。

    Fánshì yào yùxiān zhǔnbèi hǎo.

    Everything should be prepared in advance.

    Sentence #806558 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 预先 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 预 (yù) with each of its parts in a different colour
预yùto advance
  • 予to give · yúSound part
  • 页page · xiéMeaning part

页 hints at the meaning (page); 予 (yú) hints at the sound. Compare it with yù.

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 预先

预 10 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.

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

Words related to 预先

Words with 预

Words with 先

More words: Time & Sequence

FAQs

预先 (yùxiān) means “in advance” or “beforehand”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it yùxiān: yù 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.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 预先 is written 預先. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type yuxian with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 预先 from the suggestions. Typing yuxian into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
预先 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.