TongTong
Sign in

不久前 (bù jiǔ qián) — not long ago; recently

Definition

adverb
not long agorecently

Examples

  • 不久前，。
    bù jiǔ qián Zhè lǐ hái shì yí piàn huāng dì, xiàn zài yǐ jīng jiàn chéng le gāo lóu.
    Not long ago this was still a piece of wasteland; now high-rises have been built.
  • 不久前，。
    Tā bù jiǔ qián gāng cóng guó wài huí lái, duì běn dì de qíng kuàng bú tài liǎo jiě.
    He came back from abroad not long ago and doesn't know much about the local situation.
  • 不久前，。
    bù jiǔ qián Fā shēng de nà jiàn shì, zhì jīn ràng rén jì yì yóu xīn.
    That event that happened not long ago is still fresh in people's memory.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

不久not long
不bùnot久jiǔlong
偏正Modifier + head
前qiánago

不 means not, 久 means long, and 前 means ago, giving not long ago.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

久 likely came from a simple drawing of an arrow tip.

Open 久 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

In the older form of 前, 止 (foot) and 舟 (boat) showed a foot on a boat moving forward; in the current 前 those parts are shortened.

Open 前 →
Appears in
Time (Abstract)

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.