(qián) - in front, before (location) in Mandarin
qiánTraditional: 前
Translation
in front, before (location)
Word origin
前 (qián) means 'front' or 'before'. It combines elements associated with a foot and a boat, an old image of moving forward, with the knife radical 刂, and came to mean 'in front of' in space and 'before' in time.
- Origin
- compound
- Root
- 止 (foot, motion) + 舟 (boat) + 刂 (knife radical)
Stroke order
前
Examples
。
I am in front of you.
。
There is a road in front of my house.
。
Three years ago.
。
There is a bookshop up ahead.
。
We have met before.
前 (qián) means in front, before (location). It is used as a noun in everyday Mandarin speech.
Appears in 6 words
Multi-character compounds in the corpus that contain 前.
Used in
Stories
(1)Grammar articles
(6)Mandarin Advanced Grammar (C1-C2 / HSK 6+): Chengyu, Classical Remnants, and Register
Mandarin Aspect Markers: 了, 在/正在, 过 - the System That Replaces Tense
Mandarin Verb Conjugation: Why It Doesn't Exist and What Replaces It
Mandarin Existential and Presentative Sentences: 有, 出现, 发生 and Why New Things Go After the Verb
The Two 了 in Mandarin: Completion 了 After the Verb vs Change-of-State 了 at the End
Mandarin Location and Existence: 在 for Where, 有 for There Is, and the 上/下/里/外 Position Words
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Go to my review queueThis word is part of lesson 5.