まえに / うしろに

まえに / うしろに Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Conjunction

Essential Meaning: Before X / In front of X

Construction: 

• Verb informal nonpast + 前まえに
  • E.g. 話はなす前まえに [Before speaking]
  • E.g. 食たべる前まえに [Before eating]

• Noun + の前まえに
  • E.g. 朝あさごはんの前まえに [Before breakfast]

Notes:

• 前まえに basically means “Before X” or “In front of X“. It expresses that something occurs before something else either spatially or temporally. It can be used in three ways:
  • (1) With a location noun:
    • With a location noun, Xの前まえに simply conveys the idea that some noun is physically in front of another noun.
      • E.g. 駅えきの前まえにタバコやがある。[In front of the station there is a tobacco shop.] In this case, the station is the location noun and the tobacco shop is the thing that is physically in front of it.
  • (2) With a noun that indicates an action or event:
    • With a noun that indicates an event or situation (e.g. breakfast, birthday party, etc.), Xの前まえに conveys the idea that some action or situation occurs prior to that event.
      • E.g. 旅行りょこうの前まえに風邪かぜを引ひいた。[Before traveling, I caught a cold.] In this case, traveling is the event and catching is a cold is the situation that occurs prior to that event.
  • (3) With a verb:
    • With a verb, X前まえに indicates that some action or situation occurs prior to another action or situation. The verb that accompanies 前まえに is always nonpast, even if the main verb is in the past tense.
      • E.g. ジャクソンさんは日本にほんへ行いく前まえに日本語にほんごを勉強べんきょうした。[Before Jackson went to Japan, he studied Japanese.] In this case, going to Japan is the situation, and studying Japanese is the action that occurs prior to that.

• With verbs, 前まえに implies that the speaker knows precisely when something happened or when something will happen. If instead the speaker knows that something is going to happen but doesn’t know exactly when it’s going to happen, うちに is the appropriate conjunction.
  • E.g. 雨あめが降ふらないうちに帰かえりましょう。[Let’s go home before it rains.] This sentence implies that the speaker knows it will rain, but doesn’t know exactly when.
  • E.g. 忘わすれないうちに言いっておこう。[I’ll say it before I forget it.] This sentence implies that the speaker knows that he or she will forget, but doesn’t know when.

• The opposite of 前まえに is 後うしろに [Behind X] in a spatial sense, and あとで [After X] in a temporal sense.
  • E.g. 駅えきの後うしろにタバコやがある。[Behind the station there is a tobacco shop.]
  • E.g. 旅行りょこうのあとで風邪かぜを引ひいた。[After traveling, I caught a cold.]

Example Sentences:

日本人にほんじんはご飯はんを食たべる前まえに「いただきます」と言いう。[Japanese people say “Itadakimasu” before eating.]

テイラーさんは日本にほんへ行いく前まえにハワイによりました。[Tara stopped in Hawaii before visiting Japan.]

私わたしは試験しけんの前まえに映画えいがを見みに行いった。[I went to see a movie before the exam.]

WILD Examples:

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