先…再…grammar point · tier 2 · sequence 先…再… (first … then …)
Orders two actions in one subject's plan: the 先 action is done first, the 再 action follows after it.
字源 FORM what the parts do
先 is the step already out front (a foot 止 planted ahead of a person 儿): the action that goes first. 再 is one more raised on top of it (一 over a doubled 冓): the action that comes after. The verb of action A sits behind 先, the verb of action B behind 再.
故事 STORY a scene to remember it by
One footprint lands, and only once it has settled does the next step come down behind it.
字源記憶法
框 · Frame
[subj] 先 [verb-phrase A] 再 [verb-phrase B]
觸 · Trigger
Two actions you want done in a set order: this one goes first, the next waits for it.
序 · The move
1Decide which action goes first; put 先 in front of it.Is this genuinely the earlier action, not just the one I said first?
2Put 再 in front of the action that waits for the first to finish.Does the second action depend on or follow the first in time?
3Keep one subject across both verbs; do not repeat it after 再.Same doer for both halves?
例 · Examples
1大家everyone先first找位子find a seat再then (after that)點菜order food。
先…再… is a chosen order (do A first, B after, by plan). 一…就… is automatic immediacy (the moment A happens, B follows on its own). 先…再… plans the sequence; 一…就… reports the reflex.
然後 only says 'and then'; nothing marks the first action as first. 先 explicitly tags action A as the one to do first, setting up 再 to follow. 先…再… can pair with 然後, but 先 is what frames A as prior.
先看電影再睡覺 used for two unrelated actions with no real order ✗ → reserve 先…再… for a genuine sequence; for 'and also' use 還 / 也 ✓
先…才… for plain sequence ✗ → 先…再… for plain sequence; 才 adds 'only then / not until', a stronger gate ✓
English 'first… then…' lets each clause carry its own subject and a comma break feels natural. Chinese keeps one subject and runs both verbs under it; the second verb is not re-subjected after 再.