前

qián

noun HSK 1 #169

Meanings

1 front
2 before
3 ago
4 former

Characters

front; before; ago

Examples

前面有一个商店。

Qiánmiàn yǒu yī gè shāngdiàn.

There's a shop up ahead.

三年前我来过这里。

Sān nián qián wǒ lái guò zhèlǐ.

I came here three years ago.

你往前走。

Nǐ wǎng qián zǒu.

Walk forward.

Tips

grammar

For time, 前 means 'ago/before' and goes AFTER the time word: 两天前 (two days ago), 很久以前 (a long time ago). This is the opposite of English word order.

Stroke Order

前 qián