before this; prior to this; formerly
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 4 examplesnoun
before this; prior to this; formerly
formalUsed in formal or written contexts to refer to a time before the present moment or a specific event. Often appears in news reports, academic writing, and formal speeches.
Xiě写
xiǎo小
shuō说
shì是
jìn近
jǐ几
nián年
de的
shì事
，
cǐ此
qián前
tā他
céng曾
yòng用
bǐ笔
míng名
fā发
biǎo表
guò过
yī一
xiē些
shī诗
zuò作
。
Writing novels is something from recent years; prior to that, he had published some poems under a pen name.
Wǒ我
cóng从
wèi未
jiàn见
guò过
tā他
，
cǐ此
qián前
shèn甚
zhì至
bù不
zhī知
dào道
tā他
de的
míng名
zi字
。
I had never seen him before; prior to this, I didn't even know his name.
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Gōng公
sī司
cǐ此
qián前
yǐ已
jīng经
fā发
bù布
guò过
liǎng两
cì次
jǐng警
gào告
。
The company had already issued two warnings prior to this.
Kē科
xué学
jiā家
cǐ此
qián前
pǔ普
biàn遍
rèn认
wéi为
zhè这
yī一
lǐ理
lùn论
bù不
chéng成
lì立
。
Scientists previously generally believed this theory was invalid.