(xiān shēng) - Mr., sir; husband (informal) in Mandarin
xiānshēngTraditional: 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？
Excuse me, are you Mr. Li?
菜。
This gentleman would like to order.
。
This gentleman is my teacher.
Used in
Stories
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