• 188th most frequent character
  • Adds ~0.11% to your reading coverage
  • 1 dictionary entry
  • Appears in 133 words
  • Component in 11 characters

Decomposition

1Once
2Radical
3Graphical
丿

Pinyin & Meaning

1. xiān (xian1)early • prior • former • in advance • first

Pronunciation Clues

There are no phonetic clues for this character.
📚Save to a study list and track your progressSign up to create custom character lists, mark characters as learned, and build your knowledge step by step.

Appears In

also appears in:

Example Words

Common

先生 
首先 

Uncommon

事先 
优先 (優先)
先前 
先天 
先后 (先後)
先机 (先機)
先知 
先行 
先进 (先進)
先锋 (先鋒)
原先 
抢先 (搶先)
率先 
祖先 
预先 (預先)
领先 (領先)

RareShow 115

#Back to top
  • 93rd most frequent character
  • Adds ~0.20% to your reading coverage
  • 1 dictionary entry
  • Appears in 289 words
  • Component in 6 characters

Decomposition

1Once
3Graphical

Pinyin & Meaning

1. qián (qian2)front • forward • ahead • ago • before • first • former • formerly • future • BC (e.g. 前293年)

Pronunciation Clues

There are no phonetic clues for this character.
📚Save to a study list and track your progressSign up to create custom character lists, mark characters as learned, and build your knowledge step by step.

Appears In

also appears in:

Example Words

Common

之前 
以前 
前世 
前面 
提前 
目前 
面前 

Uncommon

上前 
前任 
前来 (前來)
前夕 
前夜 
前天 
前奏 
前妻 
前年 
前往 
前后 (前後)
前所未有 
前提 
前方 
前景 
前期 
前段 
前程 
前者 
前台 (前臺)
前卫 (前衛)
前辈 (前輩)
前途 
前进 (前進)
前锋 (前鋒)
前门 (前門)
史前 
向前 
婚前 
往前 
从前 (從前)
日前 
此前 
生前 
当前 (當前)
眼前 

RareShow 246

Decomposition Levels:
Level 1 - Once: Only divided once. So only two components.
Level 2 - Radical: Radical Decomposition. The character gets decomposed into its lowest radical components. For the complete list visit the Radical wikipedia page.
Level 3 - Graphical: Graphical Decomposition. Shows all the strokes & lowest level of components that make up the character.
If you see questions marks or too many "block" characters, especially when it comes to level 3 decomposition you might need the correct font.