"before today" Chinese-English Dictionary

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Chinese Pinyin Translation Actions
前此 qián cǐ before today
Chinese Pinyin Translation Actions
hǎo good / appropriate / proper / all right! / (before a verb) easy to / (before a verb) good to / (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so / (verb complement indicating completion) / (of two people) close / on intimate terms / (after a personal pronoun) hello syn
bèi quilt / to cover (with) / (literary) to suffer (a misfortune) / used to indicate passive voice (placed before the doer of the action like "by" in English passive-voice sentences, or, if the doer is not mentioned, before the verb) / (since c. 2009) (sarcastic or jocular) used to indicate that the following word should be regarded as being in air quotes (as in 被旅遊|被旅游[bei4 lu:3you2] to "go on a trip") syn
今天 jīn tiān today / the present time / now syn
zhěng (bound form) whole / complete / entire / (before a measure word) whole / (before or after number + measure word) exactly / (bound form) in good order / tidy / neat / (bound form) to put in order / to straighten / (bound form) to repair / to mend / to renovate / (coll.) to fix sb / to give sb a hard time / to mess with sb / (dialect) to tinker with / to do sth to syn
今日 jīn rì today syn
公元前 gōng yuán qián BCE (before the Common Era) / BC (before Christ)
此前 cǐ qián before this / before then / previously syn
今儿 今兒 jīn r (coll.) today syn
今朝 jīn zhāo (dialect) today / (literary) the present / this age syn
今儿个 今兒個 jīn r ge (coll.) today syn
今昔 jīn xī past and present / yesterday and today syn
本日 běn rì today
做一天和尚撞一天钟 做一天和尚撞一天鐘 zuò yī tiān hé shang zhuàng yī tiān zhōng lit. as a monk for today, toll today's bell (idiom) / fig. to do one's job mechanically / to hold a position passively syn
zài to exist / to be alive / (of sb or sth) to be (located) at / (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) syn
hěn very / quite / (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) syn
to go / to go to (a place) / (of a time etc) last / just passed / to send / to remove / to get rid of / to reduce / to be apart from in space or time / to die (euphemism) / to play (a part) / (when used either before or after a verb) to go in order to do sth / (after a verb of motion indicates movement away from the speaker) / (used after certain verbs to indicate detachment or separation) syn
to hold / to grasp / to hold a baby in position to help it urinate or defecate / handlebar / classifier: handful, bundle, bunch / classifier for things with handles / (used to put the object before the verb: 把[ba3] + {noun} + {verb}) syn
zài again / once more / re- / further / beyond this point of time / (before an adjective) more / then (after sth, and not until then) / no matter how ... (followed by an adjective or verb, and then (usually) 也[ye3] or 都[dou1] for emphasis) / (used to introduce additional information, as in 再則|再则[zai4ze2], 再就是[zai4jiu4shi4] etc) / (literary) to reappear / to reoccur syn
cóng from / through / via / (bound form) to follow / (bound form) to obey / (bound form) to engage in (an activity) / (used before a negative) ever / (bound form) (Taiwan pr. [zong4]) retainer / attendant / (bound form) (Taiwan pr. [zong4]) assistant / auxiliary / subordinate / (bound form) (Taiwan pr. [zong4]) related by common paternal grandfather or earlier ancestor syn
那个 那個 nà ge that one / that thing / that (as opposed to this) / (used before a verb or adjective for emphasis) / (used to humorously or indirectly refer to sth embarrassing, funny etc, or when one can't think of the right word) / (used in speech as a filler, similar to "umm", "you know" etc) / (euph.) menstruation / sex / also pr. [nei4 ge5] syn
cái (variant of 才[cai2]) just now / (variant of 才[cai2]) (before an expression of quantity) only syn
qián front / forward / ahead / first / top (followed by a number) / future / ago / before / BC (e.g. 前293年) / former / formerly syn
还是 還是 hái shi still (as before) / had better / unexpectedly / or syn
de -ly / structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct syn
xiàng variant of 向[xiang4] / direction / orientation / to face / to turn toward / to / towards / shortly before / formerly syn
lǎo prefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating the order of birth of the children in a family or to indicate affection or familiarity / old (of people) / venerable (person) / experienced / of long standing / always / all the time / of the past / very / outdated / (of meat etc) tough / unicode compatibility variant of 老 syn
之前 zhī qián before / prior to / ago / previously / beforehand syn
以前 yǐ qián before / formerly / previous / ago syn
zhě (after a verb or adjective) one who (is) ... / (after a noun) person involved in ... / -er / -ist / (used after a number or 後|后[hou4] or 前[qian2] to refer to sth mentioned previously) / (used after a term, to mark a pause before defining the term) / (old) (used at the end of a command) / (old) this syn
yóu to follow / from / because of / due to / by / via / through / (before a noun and a verb) it is for ... to ... syn
曾经 曾經 céng jīng once / already / former / previously / ever / (past tense marker used before verb or clause) syn
jiā to add / plus / (used after an adverb such as 不, 大, 稍 etc, and before a disyllabic verb, to indicate that the action of the verb is applied to sth or sb previously mentioned) / to apply (restrictions etc) to (sb) / to give (support, consideration etc) to (sth) syn
仍然 réng rán still / as before / yet syn
尊敬 zūn jìng to respect / to revere / to esteem / honorable / distinguished (used on formal occasions before a term of address) syn
眼前 yǎn qián before one's eyes / now / at present syn
依然 yī rán still / as before syn
不久 bù jiǔ not long (after) / before too long / soon / soon after syn
展现 展現 zhǎn xiàn to unfold before one's eyes / to emerge / to reveal / to display syn
之所以 zhī suǒ yǐ (after a noun N and before a predicate P) the reason why N P / Example: 我之所以討厭他|我之所以讨厌他[wo3 zhi1suo3yi3 tao3yan4 ta1] "the reason why I dislike him (is ...)" syn
事先 shì xiān in advance / before the event / beforehand / prior syn
前来 前來 qián lái to come (formal) / before / previously
依旧 依舊 yī jiù as before / still / to remain the same syn
按时 按時 àn shí on time / before deadline / on schedule syn
先前 xiān qián before / previously syn
一如既往 yī rú jì wǎng just as in the past (idiom) / as before / continuing as always syn
照样 照樣 zhào yàng as before / (same) as usual / in the same manner / still / nevertheless syn
原样 原樣 yuán yàng original shape / the same as before syn
前天 qián tiān the day before yesterday syn
前夜 qián yè the eve / the night before syn
加以 jiā yǐ in addition / moreover / (used before a disyllabic verb to indicate that the action of the verb is applied to sth or sb previously mentioned) / to apply (restrictions etc) to (sb) / to give (support, consideration etc) to (sth) syn
递交 遞交 dì jiāo to present / to give / to hand over / to hand in / to lay before syn
早先 zǎo xiān previously / before syn
事前 shì qián in advance / before the event syn
前夕 qián xī eve / the day before syn
写道 寫道 xiě dào to write (used before or after a quoted passage) syn
前不久 qián bù jiǔ not long ago / not long before syn
退步 tuì bù to do less well than before / to make a concession / setback / backward step / leeway / room to maneuver / fallback syn
先行 xiān xíng to start off before the others / to precede / to proceed in advance syn
首映 shǒu yìng to premiere (a movie or TV show) / premiere (of a movie) / first-run (movie) / to greet (the eye) before anything else (e.g. when entering a room)
照旧 照舊 zhào jiù as before / as in the past syn
热腾腾 熱騰騰 rè téng téng steaming hot / (fig.) bustling / hectic / (fig.) excited / stirred up / (fig.) created only a short time before / freshly minted / hot off the press / (coll.) also pr. [re4 teng1 teng1] syn
趁早 chèn zǎo as soon as possible / at the first opportunity / the sooner the better / before it's too late syn
所向披靡 suǒ xiàng pī mǐ (idiom) to sweep everything before one / to be invincible syn
曾几何时 曾幾何時 céng jǐ hé shí just a while before / not so long ago / everyone can remember when.. syn
临别 臨別 lín bié just before parting
临走 臨走 lín zǒu before leaving / on departure
未雨绸缪 未雨綢繆 wèi yǔ chóu móu lit. before it rains, bind around with silk (idiom, from Book of Songs 詩經|诗经) / fig. to plan ahead / to prepare for a rainy day syn
前年 qián nián the year before last
原处 原處 yuán chù original spot / previous place / where it was before
早退 zǎo tuì to leave early (before the stipulated finishing time) / to retire early (from one's job)
年前 nián qián by the end of the year / at the end of the year / shortly before New Year
路西法 lù xī fǎ Lucifer (Satan's name before his fall in Jewish and Christian mythology)
唯利是图 唯利是圖 wéi lì shì tú (idiom) to be bent solely on profit / to put profit before everything else syn
诚惶诚恐 誠惶誠恐 chéng huáng chéng kǒng in fear and trepidation (idiom) / in reverence before your majesty (court formula of humility) syn
沿用 yán yòng to continue to use (old methods) / to apply as before / according to usage syn
破天荒 pò tiān huāng unprecedented / for the first time / never before / first ever syn
临阵磨枪 臨陣磨槍 lín zhèn mó qiāng lit. to sharpen one's spear only before going into battle (idiom) / fig. to make preparations only at the last moment syn
何其 hé qí (literary) (similar to 多麼|多么[duo1 me5], used before an adjective in exclamations) how (fortunate etc) / so (many etc) syn
批斗 批鬥 pī dòu to drag sb before a public meeting to denounce, humiliate and physically abuse them (esp. during the Cultural Revolution)
素昧平生 sù mèi píng shēng to have never met sb before (idiom) / entirely unacquainted / a complete stranger / not to know sb from Adam syn
赶早 趕早 gǎn zǎo as soon as possible / at the first opportunity / the sooner the better / before it's too late syn
明哲保身 míng zhé bǎo shēn a wise man looks after his own hide (idiom) / to put one's own safety before matters of principle syn
前日 qián rì day before yesterday syn
先期 xiān qī the time before a certain date / in advance / beforehand / premature / initial period syn
如故 rú gù as before / as usual / (to be) like old friends syn
班门弄斧 班門弄斧 bān mén nòng fǔ to display one's slight skill before an expert (idiom) syn
沿袭 沿襲 yán xí to carry on as before / to follow (an old custom etc) syn
手抄本 shǒu chāo běn manuscript copy of a book (before the printing press)
大义灭亲 大義滅親 dà yì miè qīn to place righteousness before family (idiom) / ready to punish one's own family if justice demands it syn
公使 gōng shǐ minister / diplomat performing ambassadorial role in Qing times, before regular diplomatic relations
临战 臨戰 lín zhàn just before the contest / on the eve of war
誓师 誓師 shì shī to vow before one's troops syn
冬笋 冬筍 dōng sǔn winter bamboo shoots (smaller and tenderer as a result of being dug out before they come out of the soil) syn
马前卒 馬前卒 mǎ qián zú lackey / errand boy / lit. runner before a carriage syn
从来没有 從來沒有 cóng lái méi yǒu there has never been / has never had / (before a verb) has never
前几天 前幾天 qián jǐ tiān a few days ago / a few days before / the past few days / the previous few days
跟前 gēn qián the front (of) / (in) front / (in) sb's presence / just before (a date) syn
前一天 qián yī tiān the day before (an event) syn
倾倒 傾倒 qīng dǎo to topple over / to fall over / to greatly admire / to prostrate oneself before syn
The four tones The four tones of Mandarin Pitch over time: tone 1 high and level (red), tone 2 rising (orange), tone 3 falling then rising (green), tone 4 falling (blue). tone 1 tone 2 tone 3 tone 4 Time Pitch

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