先 (sin1) — leading; pioneering; initiating in Cantonese

sinˉ¹先

Mandarin Pinyin: xian1

Meaning of 先

nounleading; pioneering; initiating

nounpreceding; early; antecedent

nounelder generation; ancestor; forefather

nounbefore; early on; in advance

nounonly then/after (shortened for 先至)

nounfirst; lead; initiative | [ant] 後

nountemporarily; for the time being; for now

adverbfirst; before; in advance

verbto go first; to lead

nounancestor; predecessor

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Example Sentences with 先

王先生後日就返啦。

Mr. Wong will be coming back the day after tomorrow.

王先生是我爸爸的好朋友。

Mr. Wong is a good friend of my father.

首先去圖書館，然後返屋企。

First go to the library, then afterwards go home.

王先生要經廣州前往桂林。

Mr Wong wants to go to Guilin via Guangzhou.

先生話聽日唔使返學。

The teacher said we don't need to attend class tomorrow.

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Words Containing 先

在先zoi6 sin1

formerly; in the past; before

係噉先hai6 gam2 sin1

that's it for now; that's all for now; (inference) I have to go; see you later; bye (Std. Chinese: 就這樣吧)

捷足先登zit6 zuk1 sin1 dang1

姍姍來遲

先天性缺陷sin1 tin1 sing3 kyut3 haam6

birth defect

先一排sin1 jat1 paai4

not long ago; just before

預先批核jyu6 sin1 pai1 hat6

pre-approval

未見官先打八十mei6 gin3 gun1 sin1 daa2 baat3 sap6

未見其利先見其害

先行sin1 haang4

to go in advance; to go first | Spoken Cant.: 行先

先使未來錢sin1 sai2 mei6 loi4 cin4

spend future money in advance

遲嚟先走ci4 lai4 sin1 zau2

late to come, first to leave; last in first out (e.g., with staff layoffs)

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