What does the kanji 先 mean?

The kanji 先 (saki) means "before, ahead, previous, future, precedence". It is a JLPT N5 character.

What kanji is "saki"?

"saki" is written with the kanji 先, meaning "before, ahead, previous, future, precedence". Its readings are onyomi (Chinese-derived) せん (sen), kunyomi (native Japanese) さき (saki), まず (mazu). It is a JLPT N5 character.

How do you write the kanji 先?

Write 先 ("before") by following the correct stroke order. Use the interactive, step-by-step stroke order animation on this page to practise each stroke in sequence and build muscle memory.

What are the readings of 先?

先 has these readings: onyomi (Chinese-derived) せん (sen), kunyomi (native Japanese) さき (saki), まず (mazu).

先“before” Kanjisaki / sen

JLPT N5

How to write 先

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Meaning and readings

Meaning

before, ahead, previous, future, precedence

Onyomi (音読み)

せん sen

Chinese reading

Kunyomi (訓読み)

さき saki
ま（ず） ma(zu)

Japanese reading

Practice 先 on paper — a printable tracing grid with stroke order

Or get all 82 N5 sheets as one free PDF (downloads to your device)

Example sentences using 先

Human-reviewed sentence pairs from the Tatoeba corpus, with readings shown above the kanji.

もうちょっと先さきまでいってください。
Please go a little further.
先 (さき)
JP#194388bytommy__sanEN#12430815byCKCC BY 2.0 FR Tatoeba Project
先日せんじつはどうもありがとう。
Thank you for the other day.
先日 (せんじつ)
JP#141469bybunbukuEN#273101byCKCC BY 2.0 FR Tatoeba Project
あなたは先月せんげつから日本にほんにいますか。
Have you been in Japan since last month?
先月 (せんげつ)
JP#231792byarihatoEN#69159byShiawaseCC BY 2.0 FR Tatoeba Project