事先

shìxiān

adverb HSK 4 #3,803

Meanings

1 in advance
2 beforehand
3 prior

Characters

Examples

你应该事先通知我。

Nǐ yīnggāi shìxiān tōngzhī wǒ.

You should have notified me in advance.

事先做好准备很重要。

Shìxiān zuòhǎo zhǔnbèi hěn zhòngyào.

It's important to prepare beforehand.

我事先不知道这件事。

Wǒ shìxiān bù zhīdào zhè jiàn shì.

I didn't know about this in advance.

Tips

usage

事先 is more formal than 提前 (tíqián). Both mean 'in advance,' but 事先 emphasizes 'before the event' while 提前 emphasizes 'earlier than scheduled.'

Stroke Order

事 shì

先 xiān