Expressing "before" in general with "yiqian"

Nível: HSK 3 | Categoria: Gramática

Explicação da Regra:

To talk about things that previously occurred, you can use the word 以前 (yǐqián). You can use this structure to talk about actions that happened at some unspecified time in the past. One way to use 以前 (yǐqián) is to start the sentence with it. This is like starting off a sentence in English with "before..." or "in the past..." 以前 + Subj. + Verb + Obj. You can also move 以前 (yǐqián) to right after the subject, and it's also correct.

Exemplos com Falantes Nativos:

• 以前我不会说中文。 (yǐqián wǒ bù hùi shuō zhōngwén 。): "I couldn't speak Chinese before."
• 你以前住在哪儿？ (nǐ yǐqián zhù zài nǎér ？): "Where did you live before?"
• 以前我不认识他。 (yǐqián wǒ bù rènshì tā 。): "I didn't know him before."
• 以前他是我们的客户吗？ (yǐqián tā shì wǒmen de kèhù ma ？): "Was he our customer before?"
• 以前他是一个服务员，现在是老板。 (yǐqián tā shì yī gè fúwùyuán，xiànzài shì lǎobǎn 。): "He used to be a waiter and now he is the boss."

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