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前期 (qián qī) — early stage, preceding period (of a process, project, or time frame)

Definition

前期 means the early stage of a specific process or project. Pairs naturally with 后期 ('later stage') to bracket a timeline; 初期 and 早期 are similar but lean more toward the very beginning.

noun
early stagepreceding period (of a process, project, or time frame)

Examples

  • 前期。
    Zhè ge xiàng mù de qián qī jiē duàn yǒu hěn duō bú què dìng yīn sù.
    There are many uncertainties in the early stage of this project.
  • 前期，。
    Zài qián qī, wǒ men xū yào zuò hǎo shì chǎng diào yán.
    In the early stage, we need to do good market research.
  • 前期。
    qián qī De zhǔn bèi gōng zuò fēi cháng guān jiàn.
    The preparatory work in early stage is very critical.

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.

前qiánearly/preceding
期qīperiod

前 (early/preceding) and 期 (period) give the initial or earlier stage.

Characters in this word

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 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
日日rì
Sound part声符shēngfú
其
其qí期qī
Same sound today

The original form paired 其 for its sound with 日 (sun). A related form changed that sun to 月, and this later developed into 期.

Open 期 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Time (Abstract)

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