HSK 3.0 Level 4 · Time

之前 zhīqián “before” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 之前 means

  1. before
  2. prior to
  3. ago
  4. previously
  5. beforehand

How to say 之前

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale之zhī1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale前qián2nd tone, rising

之前 in a sentence

  1. 我必须在明天之前完成任务。

    Wǒ bìxū zài míngtiān zhīqián wánchéng rènwu.

    I must finish the task by tomorrow.

    Sentence #1366063 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 飞机十分钟之前就起飞了。

    Fēijī shí fēnzhōng zhīqián jiù qǐfēi le.

    The plane took off ten minutes ago.

    Sentence #636192 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我之前就告诉过你。

    Wǒ zhīqián jiù gàosu guo nǐ.

    I told you before!

    Sentence #2336726 from Tatoeba

How 之前 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 之 (zhī) drawn as one shape
之zhīhim

之 is a single shape of 3 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

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 之前

之 3 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.

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

Words related to 之前

Words with 之

之zhī · of (formal equivalent of 的)之后zhīhòu · after之间zhījiān · between百分之bǎifēnzhī · per cent总之zǒngzhī · in a word反之fǎnzhī · conversely之际zhījì · at the time of天伦之乐tiānlúnzhīlè · family happiness后顾之忧hòugùzhīyōu · worries back home当务之急dāngwùzhījí · top priority

Words with 前

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

More words: Time & Dates

白天báitiān · daytime后hòu · after今年jīnnián · this year工作日gōngzuòrì · working day前年qiánnián · the year before last后年hòunián · the year after next之后zhīhòu · after最终zuìzhōng · final

FAQs

之前 (zhīqián) means “before” or “prior to”. It is an HSK 3.0 Level 4 word.
Say it zhīqián: zhī with a 1st 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. 之前 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zhiqian with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 之前 from the suggestions. Typing zhiqian into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
之前 is an HSK 3.0 Level 4 word in the official 2021 syllabus, and it is on our HSK 3.0 Band 6 word list. It is not on the older HSK 2.0 word lists.

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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.