► 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:
- 彼等は得点を先取した ⇨ They scored first
- この線より先に進まないように ⇨ Don’t go beyond this line
- 彼は休暇先からトンボ返りした ⇨ He U-turned from his vacation destination
- マッキントッシュはGUI OSの先駆けだった ⇨ Macintosh was a pioneer of GUI OS
- 爪先の広い靴 ⇨ Shoes with wide toe boxes
- 彼女は先頭集団に追いついた ⇨ She caught up with the leading group
- 緊急時の連絡先 ⇨ The contacts for the time of emergency
- この包丁は先がとんがっている ⇨ This cooking knife has a sharp tip
- あいつが先に俺を侮辱したんだ。だったら殴ってもいいのかよ？ ⇨ He insulted me first. Does that make it OK for you to punch him?
- 彼は秘密警察の手先だった ⇨ He was a agent, informer, of the secret police
- 私が彼の質問にまごまごしていたら、彼は私の回答を待たずに先に進んだ ⇨ He kept going without waiting for my answer when I wasn’t able to react to his question
- 先ず概要から説明します ⇨ I’m going to explain the outline first
- 二つの河はこの先で合流する ⇨ The two rivers converge ahead
- 彼は取引先に御歳暮を送った (おせいぼ) ⇨ He sent out year-end gifts to his business partners
- 彼は先頭の真後ろにつけている ⇨ He is running right behind the leader