先生

xiān sheng

CL 位 wèi 个 gè 名 míng

HSK 2.0 Level 1 HSK 3.0 Level 1 Noun Very common

Definitions

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

Word relationships

Related words

2 items

• 太太 tài tai 太太 tài tai married woman 称呼女士时，‘太太’与‘先生’常成对使用。: married woman
• 师傅 shī fu 师傅 shī fu master 在某些方言或行业中，‘师傅’也可用于尊称。: master

Synonyms

1 item

• 老师 lǎo shī 老师 lǎo shī teacher 指称教师时，‘老师’更常用，‘先生’较正式或传统。: teacher

Usage notes

Collocations

Often follows surnames, e.g., 王先生 (Mr. Wang); can also stand alone as a respectful term of address.

Formality

‘先生’ is more formal than ‘老师’ for teacher; commonly used to address men politely, like 'Mr.'.

Example Sentences

5 shown

这位是我的 先生 。

This is my husband.

他将接替王 先生 担任经理。

He will take over from Mr. Wang as the manager.

請幫我轉接Smith 先生 。

Source: Tatoeba.org (ID 4743926)

這個年輕人認識Darcy 先生 嗎？

Source: Tatoeba.org (ID 4189336)

哈囉, Freeman 先生 在嗎?

Source: Tatoeba.org (ID 766416)

Sentence data courtesy of Tatoeba.org. AI-generated examples are marked with this icon.

Words Containing 先生

• 好好先生 好好先生 hǎo hǎo xiān sheng: Mr Goody-goody
• 德先生 德先生 dé xiān sheng: \Mr Democracy\, phrase used during the May 4th Movement 五四運動|五四运动[wǔ sì yùn dòng]
• 憨豆先生 憨豆先生 hān dòu xiān sheng: Mr. Bean (TV)
• 算命先生 算命先生 suàn mìng xiān sheng: fortune-teller
• 缠夹二先生 缠夹二先生 chán jiā èr xiān sheng: annoying muddle-headed person who gabbles unintelligibly
• 赛先生 赛先生 sài xiān sheng: \Mr Science\, phrase used during the May 4th Movement 五四運動|五四运动[wǔ sì yùn dòng]
• 风水先生 风水先生 fēng shuǐ xiān sheng: feng shui master

Child Words of 先生

• 先 先 xiān: early
• 生 生 shēng: to be born