Meaning of 先生
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- teacher
- gentleman; sir; mister (Mr.)
- husband
- (dialect) doctor
Measure word: 位
How to use 先生
Today 先生 is mostly used as Mr. after a surname, or alone to address a man politely, like sir. It can also mean someone's husband. Example: 王先生是我的老师。(Wáng xiānsheng shì wǒ de lǎoshī.) Mr. Wang is my teacher.
先 (xiān) means first and 生 (shēng) means born, so a 先生 is someone born before you. Respect for elders turned that idea into a polite word for a man, a teacher, or sir.
Common mistake: English speakers often put 先生 before the name, saying 先生王, but Chinese puts it after the surname: 王先生 (Wáng xiānsheng). Also, 生 here is usually read in the neutral tone, xiānsheng, not with a full first tone like in 学生 (xuéshēng).
先生 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
先 xiān · beforehand · 6 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
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生 shēng · to grow · 5 strokes
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- 5
Related words
Words that share a character with 先生.
| 医生 | yīshēng | doctor; medical practitioner |
| 生气 | shēngqì | to get angry; to be furious; vitality; liveliness |
| 学生 | xuéshēng | student; schoolchild |
| 生日 | shēngrì | birthday |
| 生病 | shēngbìng | to fall ill |
| 女生 | nǚshēng | schoolgirl; female student |
| 男生 | nánshēng | schoolboy; male student |
| 大学生 | dàxuéshēng | university student; college student |
| 小学生 | xiǎoxuéshēng | primary school student; schoolchild |
| 中学生 | zhōngxuéshēng | middle-school student; high school student |
| 生活 | shēnghuó | to live; life |
| 一生 | yīshēng | all one's life; throughout one's life |
Questions about 先生
What does 先生 mean?
先生 (xiānsheng) means "teacher; gentleman; sir; mister (Mr.)" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 先生?
先生 is made of 2 characters: 先 (6 strokes), 生 (5 strokes). That is 11 strokes in total.
Is 先生 an HSK word?
Yes. 先生 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Can 先生 mean husband?
Yes. 我先生 (wǒ xiānsheng) means my husband, and 你先生 (nǐ xiānsheng) means your husband. It sounds polite and a little formal, and it is common in speech.
Is 先生 still used to mean teacher?
In everyday mainland Chinese, teacher is usually 老师 (lǎoshī). 先生 as teacher appears mostly in older texts, formal titles for respected scholars, or some regional usage.