临行

臨行

línxíng

verb #47,473

Meanings

HSK 4

他临行时把家里的钥匙交给了邻居。

Tā línxíng shí bǎ jiālǐ de yàoshi jiāogěi le línju.

Before setting out, he handed his house keys to the neighbours.

HSK 6

临行前，妈妈往我包里塞了很多吃的。

Línxíng qián, māma wǎng wǒ bāo lǐ sāi le hěnduō chī de.

Just before I left, Mum stuffed lots of food into my bag.

usage

临行 is written and slightly formal, and mostly appears as 临行前 'before leaving'. Everyday speech says 走之前.

culture

The word is best known from 孟郊's poem 《游子吟》, where a mother sews close stitches into her son's clothes 临行, 'as he is about to leave'.

临 lín

行 xíng