Expressing "before" in general with "yiqian"

Using "before" in Chinese is very simple.

Structure

To talk about things in the past "in general", you can use the word 以前 (yǐqián).

以前 + Subject + Verb + Object

Subject + 以前 + Verb + Object

You can use this structure to talk about actions that happened at some unspecified time in the past.

Examples

  • 以前,我 不 会 中文。Before, I could not speak Chinese.
  • 以前,我 不 喝 啤酒。Before, I didn't drink beer.
  • 以前,我 不 喜欢 电影。Before, I didn't like movies.

See also

Sources and further reading

Books

HSK3