首 shǒu▶ head, chief

HSK 5HSK 3.0 · Level 4

HSK 5 — advanced proficiency: 1,300 new words, 2,500 in all. You can read newspapers, enjoy films and give speeches in Chinese. In HSK 3.0, 首 is in band 4. HSK 5 explained

Hear Xiaolu on 首 · 0:11 Talkhao's spoken-Chinese tutor

0:00 / 0:11

中首means head or chief, the first and the top. You'd say it when you talk about the leader of a group. Someone asks who is in charge, and you point to the chief. Say it with me.

Continue with Xiaolu → Your first 10-minute talk is free.

Report this clip

Stroke order

首 is written in 9 strokes.

• 首

Senses

1. head
2. chief
3. first (occasion, thing etc)
4. classifier for poems, songs etc

Related words

• 元首head of state
• 首先first of all, first
• 首要chief; principal
• 首都capital
• 首饰jewelry

首 is pronounced shǒu and means “head, chief”.