Before a specific time with "yiqian"

As well as talking about the past in general, you can use 以前 to talk about things that happened before a specific time. The structure for this is:

Time + 以前， Subject + Verb + Object

The time can be a specific time, or an action. Some examples:

• 上 大学 以前，我 不 会 写 论文。
• 三点 以前，我 在 咖啡店。
• 开 车 以前，我 不 喝 酒。

See also

• After a specific time
• "Before" in general
• Before and After with "zhiqian" and "zhihou"