师傅/師傅 shīfu — master craftsman, skilled worker

Meanings

1. 1

   master craftsman, skilled worker

   Someone skilled at a trade learned by hand — a cook, a driver, a repairman, a carpenter — and by extension the one who trains an apprentice in it. 师 teacher, 傅 tutor: the same 师 as in 老师.

   noun
2. 2

   sir, madam (address for a worker doing a manual or skilled job)

   noun

   As a form of address, 师傅 is used for a stranger doing skilled or manual work, regardless of age — a taxi driver, a chef, a repairman. It does not imply an actual teacher-student bond, the way it does in the first sense.

Example sentences

• 出租车师傅，请开快一点儿。/出租車師傅，請開快一點兒。Chūzūchē (first tone, high and level) shīfu, (first tone, high and level) qǐng (third tone, dipping) kāi (first tone, high and level) kuài (fourth tone, falling) yìdiǎnr. (fourth tone, falling)···

  Taxi driver, please drive a bit faster.

• 他是一位很有名的做菜师傅。Tā (first tone, high and level) shì (fourth tone, falling) yí (second tone, rising) wèi (fourth tone, falling) hěn (third tone, dipping) yǒumíng (third tone, dipping) de (neutral tone) zuò (fourth tone, falling) cài (fourth tone, falling) shīfu. (first tone, high and level)···

  He’s a well-known cooking master.

Similar words