先 xiān — first, before anything else
xiān (first tone, high and level)xian1
first, before anything else
HSK 3· HSK 1–4 (classic)Level 3· Three-band, nine-level standardadverb
Meanings
first, before anything else
Orders two actions in time: 先 the first, 再 or 然后 the second. 我们先吃饭，再去看电影 — the pair is what makes the sentence, and a 先 without its answering 再 usually sounds unfinished.
adverbfor now, go ahead (softening a suggestion)
adverb你先走吧 does not mean "walk first" but "you go on ahead" — 先 makes an instruction provisional and therefore polite. 我先说一下 opens a remark the same way.
Example sentences
- 你先走吧，我还有事情。你先走吧，我還有事情。Nǐ (third tone, dipping) xiān (first tone, high and level) zǒu (third tone, dipping) ba, (neutral tone) wǒ (third tone, dipping) hái (second tone, rising) yǒu (third tone, dipping) shìqing. (fourth tone, falling)···
You go on ahead — I still have things to do.
- 我们先吃饭，再去看电影。我們先吃飯，再去看電影。Wǒmen (third tone, dipping) xiān (first tone, high and level) chīfàn, (first tone, high and level) zài (fourth tone, falling) qù (fourth tone, falling) kàn (fourth tone, falling) diànyǐng. (fourth tone, falling)···
Let’s eat first and go to the cinema afterwards.
Common mistakes
Not quite我吃饭先。
Correct我先吃饭。
Chinese adverbs never trail after the verb the way "first" does in English. 先 goes between the subject and the verb, and stays there in every sentence it appears in.