Expressing "before" and "after" with "zhiqian" and "zhihou"

Revision as of 09:37, 23 July 2013 by Simingjie (talk | contribs)

Before and after can be expressed using 之前 (zhīqián) and 之后 (zhīhòu). They are in relatively the same vein as 以前/以后, except that these two are adverbs, while 之前/之后 is a preposition. Don't forget that these two are talking about before and after in terms of time.

Structure

Event + 之前/之后

Examples

  • 来 中国 之前 ,我 的 汉语 水平 很 差。Before I came to China, my Chinese was bad.
  • 吃 完 饭 之后 ,他们 去 了 一家 电影院。After they finished eating, they went to a movie theater.
  • 去 北京 之后 ,他 开始 崇拜 毛泽东 了。After he went to Beijing, he started to worship Mao Zedong.

See also

Sources and further reading

Books