先
Previous
| on’yomi | kun’yomi | Radicals |
|---|---|---|
| せん | さき, まず | 丿 + 土 + 儿 |
Meaning: Previous
You’re about to go down a grave slide. This time you won’t make the same mistake you made with the previous grave slide you tried. In the previous slide, you went down so fast your legs got stuck in the grave. You could feel the bones and rotting flesh touching your shoe-less feet. That previous grave-slide was faulty.
Emphasize thinking back to the previous slide (not the one you’re on, unless you’re thinking about how much better this one will be compared to the previous one). Imagine the previous slide, and all its nastiness (when it comes to sliding down so hard your feet are stuck in someone’s grave, you’ll have plenty of nastiness to go around).
Reading: せん
To remember せん we use the word centaur. – At the bottom of the previous grave slide, there was also a centaur as well. He started slapping you around with his hooves as your legs are stuck in the ground, and all you can do is take the beating.
Feel the scratchiness of the hooves on your face. He’s not hitting you hard, but it’s plenty enough to be irritating. Imagine him clopping around you in circles too, and make sure to vividly see the centaur, since that’s important to the reading. Also make sure to think he’s a real bastard, that centaur…
Vocabulary
Learn the meanings of the words before moving on (and the readings too, if you’re able)
a 先（さき）＝ Previous
- Meaning: Same as the kanji
- Reading: The kun’yomi reading (or, one of them). Where’d you put your previous cat? In a sack (さき). :( :( :(
a 先ず（まず）＝ First of All, To Start With
- Meaning: Kind of like the meaning of the kanji, but a little different. Previous stuff is where you start, though, if you think about it.
- Reading: Usually written in kana only, so it’s not actually something you really need to learn the reading for, though this will come up with kanji from time to time. Think about going through a maze (まず). First of all, to start with, you go in the entrance.
a 先月（せんげつ）＝ Last Month
- Combo: 先 (previous) + 月 (month)
- Meaning: The previous month is last month.
- Reading: The readings are the on’yomi readings.
a 先々月（せんせんげつ）＝ Month Before Last
- Combo: 先 (previous ) + 々 (previous) + 月 (month)
- Meaning: The repeater kanji makes the meaning of this word the previous previous month. That’s the month before last.
- Reading: The on’yomi readings of the kanji.
a 先日（せんじつ）＝ The Other Day
- Combo: 先 (previous) + 日 (day)
- Meaning: The previous day is “the other day.”
- Reading: The reading is the on’yomi readings put together.
a 先生（せんせい）＝ Teacher
- Combo: 先 (previous) + 生 (life)
- Meaning: One who teaches about previous lives is a teacher. Wouldn’t want to repeat history, or whatever that saying is I don’t remember because my teachers weren’t very good.
- Reading: The on’yomi readings put together.
a 先払い（さきばらい）＝ Advanced Payment
- Combo: 先 (previous) + 払い (payment)
- Meaning: Previous payment, before you get something, is advanced payment.
- Reading: uses the kun’yomi readings. The hint is that 払い has the い sticking out.
Notes
The kanji 先 also has slightly different meanings, like “before” and “ahead.” The word “previous” is pretty close to these words in meaning, though not exactly the same, and this explains why some of the kanji vocab would favor the other words more than “previous.” Just keep that in your mind, and you should be okay.