先生
HSK 1 (exam 2025)HSK 1 (2021)Old HSK 1
先生 (xiānsheng) · Mr
先生 (xiānsheng) means “Mr; gentleman”. It is written with 2 characters: 先 (first) + 生 (to give birth). It is an HSK 1 word in the current exam syllabus (2025).
How 先生 is built
The characters
先 xiān · first
What 先 is made of
- 土tǔ — earth
- 十 — ten
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 丨 — vertical stroke
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 十 — ten
- 儿ér — child
- 丿 — falling stroke
- 乚 — hook stroke
Origin hint: Someone stepping 止 in front of another person 儿 (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
生 shēng · to give birth
What 生 is made of
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 土tǔ — earth
- 十 — ten
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 丨 — vertical stroke
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 十 — ten
Origin hint: A shoot 屮 growing in the soil 土 (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
Example sentences
王先生是我的老师。Wáng xiānsheng shì wǒ de lǎoshī.Mr Wang is my teacher.
先生，您要喝什么？Xiānsheng, nín yào hē shénme?Sir, what would you like to drink?
Questions about 先生
What does 先生 mean?
先生 (xiānsheng) means “Mr; gentleman”.
How do you pronounce 先生?
先生 is pronounced xiānsheng.
Which HSK level is 先生?
先生 is in HSK 1 (exam 2025) and HSK 1 (2021) and Old HSK 1.
Related words
- 领先lǐngxiānto lead
- 首先shǒuxiānfirst
- 先进xiānjìnadvanced
- 事先shìxiānin advance
- 率先shuàixiānto take the lead
- 先前xiānqiánbefore
- 优先yōuxiānto have priority
- 预先yùxiānin advance
- 原先yuánxiānoriginally
- 争先恐后zhēngxiānkǒnghòuto scramble to be first
Learn 先生 with its group
It is part of HSK 1 (2021) · Group 12: a short group with quick checks and spaced repeats.