(xiān shēng) - Mr., sir; husband (informal) in Mandarin

xiānshēng

Traditional: 先生

HSK 1

#74 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

Mr., sir; husband (informal)

Word origin

A two-character compound, Mr or sir, literally 'born first'. 先 (xiān) 'first' joins 生 (shēng) 'to be born, to live'. 生 is a pictograph of a sprout growing from the ground.

Origin: compound
Root: 先 (xiān, 'first') + 生 (shēng, 'born'), literally 'born first'

Stroke order

先

生

Examples

，。

Mr. Wang, please come in.

。

My husband is on a business trip today.

李lǐ？

Excuse me, are you Mr. Li?

菜cài。

This gentleman would like to order.

。

This gentleman is my teacher.

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Mandarin · Free printables

先生: worksheet, infographic and listicle

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This word is part of lesson 2.