Difference between revisions of "Expressing "before" in general with "yiqian""

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Using "before" in Chinese is very simple.
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== Structure ==
 
== Structure ==
  
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* <em>以前</em>,我 不 会 中文。
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* <em>以前</em>,我 不 会 中文。<span class="trans">Before, I could not speak Chinese.</span>
* <em>以前</em>,我 不 喝 啤酒。
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* <em>以前</em>,我 不 喝 啤酒。<span class="trans">Before, I didn't drink beer.</span>
* <em>以前</em>,我 不 喜欢 电影。
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* <em>以前</em>,我 不 喜欢 电影。<span class="trans">Before, I didn't like movies.</span>
  
 
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Revision as of 05:39, 29 January 2013

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

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