How to say “first” in Chinese
first (in a list); shell
“First” in Chinese is 甲, jiǎ: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke.
How to pronounce it
甲 is read jiǎ. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
The first of the ten “heavenly stems”: 甲, 乙… — like “A, B” in lists.
Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “甲”.
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “And, as well as, or”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “first” in Chinese?
“First” in Chinese is 甲, pinyin jiǎ.
What does 甲 mean?
甲 (jiǎ) means “first (in a list); shell”.
How do you write 甲?
甲 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 甲?
甲 is read jiǎ. Tones: jiǎ — third tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“first” in the lesson “And, as well as, or”
This word is from the topic “Linking ideas” of HSK 5. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.
Start for free