之前

Character by character

• 之zhī4 strokesHSK 4marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
• 前qián9 strokesHSK 1in front, forward; preceding

Each character links to its stroke order page with a tracing and a writing exercise.

Example sentences

• 之前你在哪里？

  Zhī qián nǐ zài nǎ lǐ

  Where were you?

  Listen

• 他之前坐在这里。

  Tā zhī qián zuò zài zhè lǐ

  He was sitting there.

  Listen

• 这是三天之前了。

  Zhè shì sān tiān zhī qián le

  That was three days ago.

  Listen

• 我会在那之前见他。

  Wǒ huì zài nà zhī qián jiàn tā

  I'll see him before that.

  Listen

Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR), contributed by their community.

Words with the same characters

These words share at least one character with 之前. Reading them together is how the character starts to stick — the same characters in a different context.

• 前qiánHSK 1

  front; forward; ahead; first; top (followed by a number); future; ago; before; BC (e.g. 前293年); former; formerly

• 之zhīHSK 7

  (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的); him; her; it

• 之后zhī hòuHSK 4

  after; behind; (at the beginning of a sentence) afterwards; since then

• 之间zhī jiānHSK 4

  (after a noun) between; among; amid; (used after certain bisyllabic words to form expressions indicating a short period of time, e.g. 弹指之间)

• 以前yǐ qiánHSK 2

  before; formerly; previous; ago

• 目前mù qiánHSK 3

  at the present time; currently

• 之一zhī yīHSK 4

  one of (sth); one out of a multitude; one (third, quarter, percent etc)

• 面前miàn qiánHSK 2

  in front of; facing; (in the) presence (of)

• 之类zhī lèiHSK 6

  and so on; and such

• 之中zhī zhōngHSK 5

  inside; among; in the midst of (doing sth); during

• 前面qián miànHSK 3

  ahead; in front; preceding; above; also pr. [qián mian]

• 之外zhī wàiHSK 5

  outside; excluding

• 提前tí qiánHSK 3

  to shift to an earlier date; to do sth ahead of time; in advance

• 前往qián wǎngHSK 3

  to leave for; to proceed towards; to go to

• 眼前yǎn qiánHSK 3

  before one's eyes; now; at present

• 前进qián jìnHSK 3

  to go forward; to forge ahead; to advance; onward

• 之下zhī xiàHSK 5

  under; beneath; less than

• 之内zhī nèiHSK 5

  inside; within

• 之所以zhī suǒ yǐHSK 7

  (after a noun N and before a predicate P) the reason why N P; Example: 我之所以讨厌他 "the reason why I dislike him (is ...)"

• 总之zǒng zhīHSK 4

  in a word; in short; in brief

• 向前xiàng qiánHSK 5

  forward; onward

• 前来qián láiHSK 6

  to come (formal); before; previously

• 前提qián tíHSK 5

  premise; precondition; prerequisite

• 前途qián túHSK 4

  prospects; future outlook; journey