先 (sin1 sin3 | xian1 xian3 xian4) : first, foremost; Mister, Sir

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先

sin1 sin3

xian1 xian3 xian4

[1] first; foremost
[2] before; earlier; in advance
[3] the late ...; the deceased ...
[4] one's forebears
[5] a Chinese family name
[6][粵] only then (shortened for 先至)

Stroke count: 6

Level: 1

Radical: 儿 (#10)

This character is used in both Cantonese and Mandarin/Standard written Chinese.

先

This character was added by sheik on 18th Mar 2007 21:22 and last edited on 8th Dec 2011 04:31

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先生 sin1 saang1 xian1 sheng5 = mister, Mr.; husband; teacher

先人 sin1 jan4 = forefathers

先夫 sin1 fu1 = my late husband

頭先 tau4 sin1 = just now; a moment ago 粵

先至 sin1 zi3 = only then 粵

係噉先 hai6 gam2 sin1 = that's it for now; that's all for now 粵

早先 zou2 sin1 zao3 xian1 = earlier; previously 國

首先 sau2 sin1 shou3 xian1 = firstly

祖先 zou2 sin1 zu3 xian1 = ancestors

先知 sin1 zi1 xian1 zhi1 = prophet
See all 94 compounds (CantoDict reports 95 compounds in total, but some may be Common Formations)

Showing 10 of 42 examples containing 先

王先生後日就返啦。粵
Mr. Wong will be coming back the day after tomorrow.

先生，請問幾位？粵
Sir, how many people?

食飯前要先洗手。粵
One should wash one's hands before having a meal.

我走先喇。粵
I have to leave earlier.

食完飯先至計啦粵
I'll have dinner first and then sort it out!
[Lit. eat-finish-rice only-then do. Std. Chinese: 吃完飯再計算吧]

蘋果，我鐘意㓟咗皮先至食粵
I like to peel apples before eating them.
[Lit. apples, I like peel [perfective zo2] skin only-then eat.]

王先生是我爸爸的好朋友。國
Mr. Wong is a good friend of my father.

首先去圖書館，然後返屋企。粵
First go to the library, then afterwards go home.

先生話聽日唔使返學。粵
The teacher said we don't need to attend class tomorrow.

究竟有雞先，定係有蛋先呢？粵 ?!
Actually, does chicken come first or egg first?

Show all 42 examples

Legend
國 : This term is used in Mandarin/Standard written Chinese, not Cantonese.
粵 : This term is used in Cantonese, not Mandarin/Standard written Chinese.
No icon: This term is used in both Cantonese and Mandarin/Standard written Chinese.

Forum Code to link to this word:
[big][url=http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/560/]先[/url][/big]
HTML Code to link to this word:
<a href="http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/560/" class="chinesemed" target="_blank">先</a>
Decimal representation of this word: 先
Unicode code for this character: U+5148 (off-site link)

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