DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

先天與後天

简先天与后天 · 繁先天與後天

Mandarin · pinyin xiān tiān yǔ hòu tiān

nature versus nurture

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

先: xiān · first, former, previous
天: tiān · sky, heaven; god, celestial
與: Look up this written character
後: hòu · behind, rear, after; descendents
与: yǔ · and; with; to; for; give, grant
后: hòu · queen, empress, sovereign; (simp. for 後) behind, rear, after

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1–1–3–4–1 · xian1 tian1 yu3 hou4 tian1

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

5character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

先天與後天 · find source passages ↗ · 先天与后天 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗