HSK 3.0 Level 3 · People

面前 miànqián “in front of” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 面前 means

  1. in front of
  2. before
  3. facing
  4. (in the) presence (of)

How to say 面前

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale面miàn4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale前qián2nd tone, rising

面前 in a sentence

  1. 他走在我的面前。

    Tā zǒu zài wǒ de miànqián.

    He walked in front of me.

    Sentence #760397 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 在你面前是什么东西？

    Zài nǐ miànqián shì shénme dōngxi?

    What’s that in front of you?

    Sentence #842490 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  3. 在你面前我说不出话来。

    Zài nǐ miànqián wǒ shuō bu chū huà lái.

    I get tongue-tied in front of you.

    Sentence #2138411 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

How 面前 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 面 (miàn) drawn as one shape
面miànface

面 is a single shape of 9 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidDrawn from a face inside its outline.

The character 前 (qián) with each of its parts in a different colour
前qiánfront
  • 丷eight form of 八 · bā
  • 一one · yī
  • 刖cutting off the feet as a form of punishment · yuè

How to write 面前

面 9 strokes · 前 9 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

面前 (miànqián) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 面前 (miànqián). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 面前

Words with 面

前面qiánmiàn · front后面hòumiàn · back面条儿miàntiáor · noodles面miàn · noodles面条miàntiáo · noodles上面shàngmiàn · above下面xiàmiàn · below里面lǐmiàn · inside外面wàimiàn · outside面包miànbāo · bread

Words with 前

前qián · front前面qiánmiàn · front以前yǐqián · before前天qiántiān · the day before yesterday前年qiánnián · the year before last提前tíqián · to bring forward之前zhīqián · before从前cóngqián · previously目前mùqián · at the present time前途qiántú · prospects

More words: People & Places

有人yǒurén · someone人们rénmen · people身边shēnbiān · at one’s side市shì · city海hǎi · sea

FAQs

面前 (miànqián) means “in front of” or “before”. It is an HSK 3.0 Level 3 word.
Say it miànqián: miàn with a 4th tone, then qián with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 面前 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type mianqian with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 面前 from the suggestions. Typing mianqian into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
面前 is an HSK 3.0 Level 3 word in the official 2021 syllabus, and it is on our HSK 3.0 Band 3 word list. It is not on the older HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.

Book a free intro call

Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.