先生 xiānsheng▶ thưa ông; ngài

Stroke order

先生 is written in 11 strokes across 2 characters.

• 先 — 6 strokes
• 生 — 5 strokes

Senses

1. teacher
2. gentleman; sir; mister (Mr.)
3. husband
4. (dialect) doctor

Example sentences

• 先生是我的老师。Xiānsheng shì wǒ de lǎoshī.The gentleman is my teacher.
• 先生，请坐。Xiānsheng, qǐng zuò.Sir, please sit.

Related words

• 医生bác sĩ
• 学生học sinh; sinh viên
• 生日sinh nhật
• 生病bị ốm, bị bệnh
• 先đầu tiên
• 生气tức giận

先生 is pronounced xiānsheng and means “thưa ông; ngài”. This word appears in HSK 1, one level of the Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi — the proficiency exam most Chinese courses are built around. Passive recognition of 先生 arrives quickly and leaves quickly. Active recall is slower to build and far more durable, so LexiTrail keeps returning the word to you at widening intervals rather than on a timer.