Before / after: 以前 and 以后

Structure (action) + 以前 / 以后

以前 (yǐqián, "before") and 以后 (yǐhòu, "after") go AFTER what they frame: 下课以后 = "after class". On their own they mean "in the past / in the future": 以前我不会说中文 = "I couldn’t speak Chinese before". As with 的时候, Chinese puts the marker at the end of the block.

Examples

以yǐ前qián我wǒ不bù会huì说shuō中zhōng文wén。
I couldn’t speak Chinese before.
下xià课kè以yǐ后hòu我wǒ们men去qù吃chī饭fàn。
After class we’ll go eat.
三sān年nián以yǐ前qián他tā来lái过guò这zhè里lǐ。
Three years ago he came here.

This point and the other 370, with audio on every example, inside Wanyu.

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