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 + 前に
- E.g. 話す前に [Before speaking]
- E.g. 食べる前に [Before eating]
- Noun + の前に
- E.g. 朝ごはんの前に [Before breakfast]
Notes:
- 前に 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の前に simply conveys the idea that some noun is physically in front of another noun.
- E.g. 駅の前にタバコやがある。[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.
- With a location noun, Xの前に simply conveys the idea that some noun is physically in front of another noun.
- (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の前に conveys the idea that some action or situation occurs prior to that event.
- E.g. 旅行の前に風邪を引いた。[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.
- With a noun that indicates an event or situation (e.g. breakfast, birthday party, etc.), Xの前に conveys the idea that some action or situation occurs prior to that event.
- (3) With a verb:
- With a verb, X前に indicates that some action or situation occurs prior to another action or situation. The verb that accompanies 前に 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へ行く前に日本語を勉強した。[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 a verb, X前に indicates that some action or situation occurs prior to another action or situation. The verb that accompanies 前に is always nonpast, even if the main verb is in the past tense.
- (1) With a location noun:
- With verbs, 前に 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. 雨が降らないうちに帰りましょう。[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. 忘れないうちに言っておこう。[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 前に is 後ろに [Behind X] in a spatial sense, and あとで [After X] in a temporal sense.
- E.g. 駅の後ろにタバコやがある。[Behind the station there is a tobacco shop.]
- E.g. 旅行のあとで風邪を引いた。[After traveling, I caught a cold.]
Example Sentences:
日本人はご飯を食べる前に「いただきます」と言う。[Japanese people say “Itadakimasu” before eating.]
テイラーさんは日本へ行く前にハワイによりました。[Tara stopped in Hawaii before visiting Japan.]
私は試験の前に映画を見に行った。[I went to see a movie before the exam.]
WILD Examples:
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