► 成句
先 [さき] [先を越す] meaning: lead rank: 2
☆ 彼等は新兵器の開発で敵に先を越されることを恐れている ⇨ They are afraid that the enemies could develop the new weapons before them
先 [さき] [目と鼻の先] meaning: close rank: 4
☆ 事件は警視庁の目と鼻の先で起こった ⇨ The incident happened right in front of the eyes and nose of the police headquarters
► 名詞
先 [さき] meaning: ahead rank: 1
☆ この先は全て未舗装路だ ⇨ From this point on, they are all unpaved road
☆ この先十分位行った所にコンビニがある ⇨ You keep going ahead for about 10 minutes and there is a convenient store
☆ 先を急ぐ余りに今が疎かになった ⇨ They were in too much of a hurry to move ahead that they failed to take care of the present
☆ 暗くて先がよく見えない ⇨ It is too dark I cannot see ahead
先 [さき] meaning: before rank: 1
☆ 彼が先に来た ⇨ He came before me. He was already here when I arrived
☆ 彼に先に知らせておくべきだ ⇨ We should let him know beforehand
☆ 彼は誰よりも先にそのことに気がついた ⇨ He realized that before anybody
先 [さき] [御先] [coll] [polite] meaning: before rank: 1
☆ 御先に失礼します (おさき) ⇨ Allow me to leave before you do
先 [さき] meaning: destination rank: 1
☆ 彼女は引っ越した先で新しい仕事を始めた ⇨ She started a new job at the place she had moved to
☆ 食べ物は行った先で買えば良い ⇨ We can buy food at the destination
先 [さき] meaning: first rank: 1
☆ ガス漏れを止めるのが先だ ⇨ We need to stop the gas leak first
☆ これを先にやろう ⇨ Let’s do this first
☆ 先に帰らせてもらいます ⇨ Allow me to leave first, ahead of you
☆ 支払いが先だ ⇨ You have to pay first
先 [さき] [御先] [coll] [polite] meaning: first rank: 1
☆ 御先にどうぞ (おさき) ⇨ You go first, ahead
先 [さき] [coll] meaning: future rank: 1
☆ この先どうなるかはっきりしない ⇨ It is not clear what is going to happen from now on
☆ 今は先の事を考える余裕が無い ⇨ I don’t have the room to think about the future right now
☆ 先が楽しみな選手 ⇨ A player with a promising future
先 [さき] meaning: tip rank: 1
☆ 指の先に棘が刺さった ⇨ A thorn got stuck at the tip of my finger
先 [(1)さき] meaning: past rank: 3
☆ 社会党は先の選挙で大敗した ⇨ The socialist party suffered a major defeat in the recent election (☛ A recent past)
More examples:
- 彼はいつも周りに相談せずに自分一人の考えで先走る ⇨ He always starts running with his own ideas without consulting others
- この包丁は先がとんがっている ⇨ This cooking knife has a sharp tip
- 先日出版された記事に訂正があります ⇨ There is a correction in the article published earlier
- 私は難しい問題は後回しにして、簡単なものから先に処理することにした ⇨ I decided to deal with difficult problems later, and take care of easy ones first
- それは優先順位が低い ⇨ That is low in priority
- この手紙宛先が書いてない ⇨ The addressee is not written on this letter
- 彼は時代に先んじていた ⇨ He was ahead of the times
- 強風で店先の看板がすっ飛ばされた ⇨ The store sidewalk sign got blown away by the gust
- 警察が踏み込んだが一足先に逃げられていた ⇨ The police raided the place but the suspect was one step ahead and was already gone
- 先々の事を考えると不安になる ⇨ I feel anxious when I think about the future
- 指先に痺れがある ⇨ I have numbness in fingertips
- 会社の再建には先ず膿を出しきらないといけない ⇨ We need to expel all the pus first before rebuilding the company
- 重要な点を先に説明します ⇨ I explain the important points first
- 多くの先進国では人口が減少している ⇨ The population is decreasing in many advanced nations
- それは未だ未だ先の話だ ⇨ That is still some time away