…以前 / …以后: before, after

名词 / nouns (时间)

Tone colorsā tone 1á tone 2ǎ tone 3à tone 4a neutral

Time / Clause + 以前 / 以后，Main clause

以前 (before) and 以后 (after) come after the time element, the reverse of English: 吃饭以前 = before eating, 三年以后 = three years later, 毕业以后 = after graduating.

Alone at the start of a sentence, they mean "in the past" and "in the future": 以前我住在上海 (I used to live in Shanghai). 以后我想去西藏 (someday I'd like to go to Tibet).

Short written forms: 前 / 后 (三天后).

Examples

来中国以前，我一句中文也不会说。
Lái Zhōngguó yǐqián, wǒ yí jù Zhōngwén yě bú huì shuō.
Before coming to China, I couldn't say a word of Chinese.
大学毕业以后，我去了北京工作。
Dàxué bìyè yǐhòu, wǒ qùle Běijīng gōngzuò.
After graduating, I went to work in Beijing.
以前我不喜欢吃辣的，现在很喜欢。
Yǐqián wǒ bù xǐhuan chī là de, xiànzài hěn xǐhuan.
I didn't use to like spicy food; now I love it.
三天以后，我们到了西安。
Sān tiān yǐhòu, wǒmen dàole Xīān.
Three days later, we arrived in Xi'an.

Common mistakes

✗ 以前吃饭 (for "before eating") → ✓ 吃饭以前.

✗ 以后三年 → ✓ 三年以后.