以前

Character by character

• 以yǐ5 strokesHSK 2by means of; thereby, therefore; consider as; in order 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

• 我以前在山里。

  Wǒ yǐ qián zài shān lǐ

  I was in the mountains.

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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 以前. Reading them together is how the character starts to stick — the same characters in a different context.

• 可以kě yǐHSK 2

  can; may; possible; able to; not bad; pretty good

• 前qiánHSK 1

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

• 所以suǒ yǐHSK 2

  therefore; as a result; so; the reason why

• 以yǐHSK 7

  to use; by means of; according to; in order to; because of; at (a certain date or place)

• 以后yǐ hòuHSK 2

  after; later; afterwards; following; later on; in the future

• 之前zhī qiánHSK 4

  before; prior to; ago; previously; beforehand

• 以及yǐ jíHSK 4

  as well as; too; and

• 以为yǐ wéiHSK 2

  to think (i.e. to take it to be true that ...) (Usually there is an implication that the notion is mistaken – except when expressing one's own current opinion.)

• 目前mù qiánHSK 3

  at the present time; currently

• 面前miàn qiánHSK 2

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

• 以来yǐ láiHSK 3

  since (a previous event)

• 难以nán yǐHSK 5

  hard to (predict, imagine etc)

• 前面qián miànHSK 3

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

• 以下yǐ xiàHSK 2

  that level or lower; that amount or less; the following

• 以上yǐ shàngHSK 2

  that level or higher; that amount or more; the above-mentioned; (used to indicate that one has completed one's remarks) That is all.

• 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

• 以外yǐ wàiHSK 2

  apart from; other than; except for; external; outside of; on the other side of; beyond

• 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 ...)"

• 以往yǐ wǎngHSK 5

  in the past; formerly

• 足以zú yǐHSK 6

  sufficient to...; so much so that; so that

• 向前xiàng qiánHSK 5

  forward; onward