Word information
Simplified祖先
Traditional祖先
Pinyinzǔxiān
Part of speech名
HSK 3.06
HSK 2.05
Chinese word dictionary
祖先
zǔxiān · ancestors; forebears; (biology) ancestral species; ancient species from which present-day species evolved
Character breakdown
Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.
How to learn 祖先
Listen once without reading, repeat the pinyin with its tones, then write every character in sequence. Finally, recall the complete meaning instead of memorizing each character as an isolated translation.
When the word appears in a sentence, check whether its part of speech and meaning match the definition shown here. Chinese words can change nuance with context.
Related vocabulary
Words with the same characters
Compare how a familiar Hanzi changes meaning inside another word.
先生xiānsheng
teacher; gentleman; sir; mister (Mr.); husband; (dialect) doctor; CL:位[wei4]
先xiānbeforehand; first; earlier; at first; originally; for the time being; for now; (prefix) my late (in referring to deceased relatives older than oneself)
首先shǒuxiānfirst (of all); in the first place
领先lǐngxiānto lead; to be in front
事先shìxiānin advance; before the event; beforehand; prior
先后xiānhòuearly or late; first and last; priority; in succession; one after another