Basic Grammar: all 87 lessons free
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以前 & 以后 — Before and After
以前和以后 — 时间的前与后
Three jobs each: behind a time, behind a duration, or alone as the past and the future. Wherever they land, it is before the verb.
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Memory hook
Time + 以前 / 以后 — six slots, one table
Before this, after that
Tap any line. Find the time package in each one — it always arrives before the verb.
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Memory hook
以后 alone means 'someday' — so pin it down
以前 or 以后?「以前」还是「以后」？
No pressure — just making it stick.
我们下班____去吃火锅吧！
Wǒmen xiàbān ____ qù chī huǒguō ba!
Let's go eat hotpot after work!
吃饭____记得洗手。
Chīfàn ____ jìde xǐshǒu.
Remember to wash your hands before eating.
他们半年____分手了。
Tāmen bàn nián ____ fēnshǒu le.
They broke up half a year ago.
When is the trip?
Your turn — say it
我们下班以后去吃火锅吧！
Let's go eat hotpot after work!
我____在银行工作，现在是全职太太。
Wǒ ____ zài yínháng gōngzuò, xiànzài shì quánzhí tàitai.
I used to work at a bank; now I am a full-time wife.
What is being asked about?
Your turn — say it
我每天睡觉以前都会在床上玩手机。
Every day before sleeping I play on my phone in bed.
This lesson's characters
The pair itself — one arrived by boat, the other used to be a queen.
front; before
会two ideas joined
The old form drew a foot standing on a boat: moving forward without taking a step — the river does the walking. Millennia of handwriting wore the foot down to the two strokes on top and flattened the boat into a 月; the little knife 刂 on the right is a stowaway from a different word, 'to cut', which later got its own character 剪, scissors. Forward in space became earlier in time, the way 'before' moved in English too.
back; after
会two ideas joined
The character you write today was originally a ruler — a figure leaning over a 口, a mouth issuing commands. It still means that in 皇后, the empress. 'Behind, after' had its own character, 後: a small step, a silk thread, a dragging foot — falling behind on the road. Simplification kept only the short one, so now the queen covers for the straggler. The same borrowed-shape deal as 只, 几 and 里.
Take these with you
Everything worth taking away. Tap any line to hear it.
Words 生词
Characters 汉字
Before you go课后回顾
- Tonight, narrate the routine: 睡觉以前我会…… Tomorrow: 起床以后我会…… The grammar rides along free.
- A bare 以后 promises 'someday'. For a promise you mean, hang it on an event: 下飞机以后给你打电话.
- Three days ago, in three days: 三天前, 三天后. The duration does not move — only the direction flips.