日前

rìqián

noun HSK 7 #22,755

Meanings

Literally 'days before' — recently, a few days ago

Rìqián, yī xiàng xīn zhèngcè zhèngshì shíshī.

Recently, a new policy was officially implemented.

Tā rìqián jiēshòu le yī jiā méitǐ de cǎifǎng.

He was interviewed by a media outlet the other day.

日前 is formal and mostly used in news and written Chinese. In everyday speech, people say 前几天 (qián jǐ tiān) or 最近 (zuìjìn) instead.

mistakes

Don't confuse 日前 (recently, in the past) with 目前 (mùqián, at present/currently). They sound different but learners sometimes mix up their meanings.

日 rì

前 qián