What 首 means
- Head (leader - chief - first - mw for poems-songs-music)
These meanings come from the same dictionary that powers the Chinese to Pinyin translator and the Chinese to English translator, so a whole sentence containing 首 will read it the same way this page does.
Recognise a piece of 首 but not the character it belongs to? Pick the parts in the component character finder and it will name the character for you — free for every character, with nothing to sign in to.
How to write 首
Stroke order is not decoration — it is what makes handwriting legible and what dictionary lookup by stroke count depends on.
Practise 首 on printable 田字格 sheets, trace it in the writing practice tool, or watch any other character in the Stroke Order Animator.
首 in a sentence
Every sentence on this site that uses 首 is collected on the 首 sentence page. Want pinyin above a sentence of your own? Paste it into the Pinyin Annotator.
Words that contain 首
Sounds the same as 首
These are also written shou without tone marks. Tones and context are what keep them apart — which is why the tone is part of the word, not an accent on it.
Train the difference in the Tone Trainer or the Similar Sounds Quiz.
Questions about 首
What does 首 mean in English?
首 is pronounced shǒu and means Head (leader - chief - first - mw for poems-songs-music).
How do you pronounce 首?
首 is shǒu in pinyin — written shou without tone marks. Press the audio button on this page to hear it spoken by a native voice.
Is 首 an HSK word?
Yes — 首 is on the official HSK 5 vocabulary list. You can study it with the rest of that list on the HSK 5 page.
What words contain 首?
Common ones include 首都 (shǒudū) Capital, 首先 (shǒuxiān) In the first place, 首饰 (shǒushì) Jewelry, 首要 (shǒuyào) Most important, 元首 (yuánshǒu) Head of state. Each has its own entry on this site.
Studied around the same time
Keep going
Translate a whole sentence containing 首 with the Chinese to Pinyin translator, study it alongside the rest of HSK 5, drill it with HSK flashcards, or save it above and review it on your review deck.
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