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事先 (shì xiān) — in advance; beforehand; prior

Definition

事先 (shìxiān) means 'beforehand' as a noun, referring to the time before an event. Closer to 预先 ('in advance'), and more event-focused than 先 (which is an adverb meaning 'first').

noun
in advancebeforehandprior

Examples

  • 事先。
    Wǒ men shì xiān zuò hǎo le jì huà.
    We made plans in advance.
  • 事先。
    Tā shì xiān bù zhī dào zhè jiàn shì.
    He didn't know about this beforehand.
  • 事先。
    Qǐng shì xiān tōng zhī wǒ.
    Please notify me in advance.

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.

事shìevent
先xiānbefore

事 and 先 combine to mean the time before a 事, i.e. beforehand.

Characters in this word

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

In 事, 又 is a hand and 中 is a flagpole with a drum; holding a flag in hand depicts performing a job.

Open 事 →

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

先 combines 止 (foot) and 儿 (person) to show someone moving forward.

Open 先 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5Time (Abstract)5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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