前 (qián): front, forward, ahead
前 (qián) is a Chinese character meaning “front.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), with radical 刂 (knife). It ranks #93 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Definitions
- front
- forward
- ahead
Stroke Order
Practice writing 前 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 前
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 之前noun | zhī qián | before | 4 |
| 以前noun | yǐ qián | before | 3 |
| 面前noun | miàn qián | in front of | 3 |
| 目前noun | mù qián | at the present time | 4 |
| 前面noun | qián miàn | ahead | 2 |
| 前进verb | qián jìn | to go forward | 5 |
| 眼前noun | yǎn qián | before one's eyes | 4 |
| 提前verb | tí qián | to shift to an earlier date | 4 |
| 前往verb | qián wǎng | to leave for | 5 |
| 前途noun | qián tú | prospects | 5 |
| 从前noun | cóng qián | previously | 5 |
| 前来verb | qián lái | to come (formal) | 5 |
| 前方noun | qián fāng | ahead | 4 |
| 前提noun | qián tí | premise | 6 |
| 先前noun | xiān qián | before | 6 |
| 当前verb/noun | dāng qián | the present time | 5 |
| 前后noun | qián hòu | around | 4 |
| 前景noun | qián jǐng | foreground | 6 |
| 前天noun | qián tiān | the day before yesterday | 3 |
| 跟前noun | gēn qián | the front (of) | 6 |
| 前期noun | qián qī | preceding period | 6 |
| 前者noun | qián zhě | the former (i.e. the one mentioned first) | 6 |
| 此前noun | cǐ qián | before this | 5 |
| 日前noun | rì qián | the other day | 6 |
| 前年noun | qián nián | the year before last | 3 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 前妻 | qián qī | ex-wife |
| 前科 | qián kē | criminal record |
| 前任 | qián rèn | predecessor |
| 前夫 | qián fū | former husband |
| 前门 | qián mén | front door |
| 前台 | qián tái | stage |
| 婚前 | hūn qián | premarital |
| 门前 | mén qián | in front of the door |
| 前程 | qián chéng | future (career etc) prospects |
| 前额 | qián é | forehead |
| 前辈 | qián bèi | senior |
前 appears in 100 compound words: 78 as the first character, 22 as the last, and 0 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 前 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (43)
thinking and pondering (idiom); to turn sth over in one's mind; to consider repeatedly
regardless of what's before or after (idiom); rushing blindly into sth
to inherit the teachings of previous generations in order to inspire future actions
to bring honor to one's ancestors and benefit future generations (idiom)
to inherit the teachings of previous generations in order to inspire future actions
Showing 12 of 43 idioms containing 前.
Example Sentences
前途虽然充满挑战，但他对未来充满信心。
Qiántú suīrán chōngmǎn tiǎozhàn, dàn tā duì wèilái chōngmǎn xìnxīn.
Although the future is full of challenges, he is full of confidence about the future.
小伙出售前女友送的银手镯,剪开发现内芯为30克高纯...
xiǎo huǒ chū shòu qián nǚ yǒu sòng de yín shǒu 镯 , jiǎn kāi fā xiàn nèi xīn wéi kè gāo chún . . .
The guy sold his ex-girlfriend to send the silver bracelet, cut open and found that the core for 30 grams of high-purity...
春运机票大跳水,有人一家四口提前买票亏了4000元..
chūn yùn jī piào dà tiào shuǐ , yǒu rén yī jiā sì kǒu tí qián mǎi piào kuī le yuán . .
Spring Festival airfare dive, someone family of four bought tickets in advance of the loss of 4,000 yuan ...
英伟达美股盘前涨近2%
yīng wěi dá měi gǔ pán qián zhǎng jìn
NVIDIA shares rise nearly 2% in premarket trading
...春晚直播弹幕数达1.33亿,发送数量排名前..
. . . chūn wǎn zhí bō dàn mù shǔ dá . yì , fā sòng shǔ liáng pái míng qián . .
The Spring Festival Gala live broadcast recorded 133 million bullet comments, ranking among the top in terms of comment volume...
新春走基层丨9年前带3岁女儿开出租车的单亲妈妈,除..
xīn chūn zǒu jī céng 丨 nián qián dài suì nǚ ér kāi chū zū chē de shàn qīn mā mā , chú . .
Spring Festival Grassroots Report | Single Mom Who Drove a Taxi with Her 3-Year-Old Daughter 9 Years Ago...
“以前我们没在哪儿见过吗？”学生问道。
"Yǐqián wǒmen méi zài nǎr jiàn guo ma?" xuésheng wèndào.
"Haven't we met somewhere before?" asked the student.
你觉得我之前在做什么？
Nǐ juéde wǒ zhīqián zài zuò shénme?
What do you think I've been doing?
你不知道他两年前死了吗？
Nǐ bù zhīdào tā liǎng niánqián sǐ le ma?
Didn't you know that he passed away two years ago?
在你面前是什么东西？
Zài nǐ miànqián shì shénme dōngxi?
What's in front of you?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 前 (qián) mean in Chinese?
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What is the radical of 前?
What are common words containing 前?
What characters sound the same as 前 (qián)?
Is 前 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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