老师
HSK 1 (exam 2025)HSK 1 (2021)Old HSK 1
老师 (lǎoshī) · teacher
老师 (lǎoshī) means “teacher”. It is written with 2 characters: 老 (old) + 师 (teacher). It is an HSK 1 word in the current exam syllabus (2025).
How 老师 is built
The characters
老 lǎo · old
What 老 is made of
- 耂lǎo — old
- 土tǔ — earth
- 十 — ten
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 丿 — falling stroke
- 土tǔ — earth
- 匕bǐ — spoon
- 乚 — hook stroke
- 丿 — falling stroke
Origin hint: A person bent over with long hair 匕 and a crutch; compare 耂 (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
师 shī · teacher
What 师 is made of
- 刂dāo — knife
- 丨 — vertical stroke
- 亅 — hook
- 帀zā — to rotate
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 巾jīn — cloth
- 冂 — frame
- 丨 — vertical stroke
Origin hint: To skillfully wield 帀 a knife 刂 (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
Example sentences
王老师是我们的老师。Wáng lǎoshī shì wǒmen de lǎoshī.Teacher Wang is our teacher.
老师，我能进来吗？Lǎoshī, wǒ néng jìnlái ma?Teacher, may I come in?
Questions about 老师
What does 老师 mean?
老师 (lǎoshī) means “teacher”.
How do you pronounce 老师?
老师 is pronounced lǎoshī.
Which HSK level is 老师?
老师 is in HSK 1 (exam 2025) and HSK 1 (2021) and Old HSK 1.
Related words
- 老人lǎorénold person
- 老年lǎoniánold age
- 老朋友lǎo péngyouold friend
- 老是lǎoshialways
- 老百姓lǎobǎixìngordinary people
- 老板lǎobǎnboss
- 老太太lǎotàitaiold lady
- 老头儿lǎotóurold man (informal)
- 老公lǎogōnghusband
- 老家lǎojiāhometown
Learn 老师 with its group
It is part of HSK 1 (2021) · Group 6: a short group with quick checks and spaced repeats.