You're at a friend's apartment, and they're about to serve dinner. You want to mention that in the past you always cooked at home, and that you make a point of washing your hands prior to meals. The word 以前 (yǐqián) handles both jobs: it means "in the past" when talking about habits, and "prior to" when attached to a verb or time.
The key pattern is Verb/Time + 以前 (yǐqián). Place it after a verb or a time expression to say that something happened earlier, or that something should happen first.
Take the example sentence:
吃饭以前要洗手 (chīfàn yǐqián yào xǐshǒu) — "Before eating, you should wash your hands."
Here, 吃饭 (chīfàn, "eat a meal") comes first, then 以前 (yǐqián) marks it as the reference point. The result: washing hands should happen prior to eating. You can swap in any verb — 下班以前 (xiàbān yǐqián, "prior to getting off work"), 睡觉以前 (shuìjiào yǐqián, "prior to sleeping") — the structure stays the same.
In "Before You Do That," you talk out loud with AI teacher Mei Lin for about 10 minutes. She asks you questions that require 以前 (yǐqián) in your answers — describing old routines and sequencing actions. If your tone or word order slips, she corrects you in the flow of conversation and adjusts to your level.
This is one of our HSK 3 lessons, each focused on a single grammar point. When you finish, try "Besides and Except" for the pattern 除了...以外 (chúle...yǐwài), or "All or Nothing" for indefinite pronouns like 什么都/谁都/哪儿都. You can also reinforce your writing with the free printable Chinese worksheet generator. The first lesson is free to start.
以前 (yǐqián) has two uses. Placed after a verb or time, it means "prior to" that action — as in 吃饭以前要洗手 (chīfàn yǐqián yào xǐshǒu), "Before eating, you should wash your hands." On its own, it means "in the past" or "previously," letting you describe habits you used to have.
This live conversation lesson takes roughly 10 minutes. You talk with AI teacher Mei Lin by voice, and she focuses entirely on 以前 (yǐqián) — correcting your grammar and pronunciation as you describe past routines and sequence actions.
Yes. You can print handwriting sheets with the free Chinese Worksheet Generator, which includes ready-made packs for HSK 1–3 vocabulary. Use it alongside this lesson to reinforce characters like 吃饭 and 洗手 that appear in the example sentence.