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Kanji Detail for 前 - "front, before, previous"

前

  • Meaning

    前 means "front, before, previous."

    1. Front - The forward part.

    2. Before - Earlier in time.

    3. Previous - Coming before.

    4. Ahead - In advance.

  • Words using 前

    • 前年 ぜんねん Listen the preceding year; the previous year; last year
    • 午前 ごぜん Listen morning; a.m.
    • 前半 ぜんはん Listen first half
    • 前回 ぜんかい Listen previous time; last time; previous installment
    • 前提 ぜんてい Listen condition; assumption; prerequisite
    • 前日 ぜんじつ Listen previous day; day before; eve
    • 名前 なまえ Listen name; given name; first name
    • 直前 ちょくぜん Listen just before; just prior to; right in front of

  • Four-character idioms with 前

    • 前人未到 ぜんじんみとう Listen untrodden (region, field of study, etc.); unprecedented (discovery, achievement, etc.)
    • 前代未聞 ぜんだいみもん Listen unheard-of; unprecedented; unparalleled in history (unparallelled)
    • 前後不覚 ぜんごふかく Listen unconsciousness; having no recollection of one's actions
    • 前後矛盾 ぜんごむじゅん Listen self-contradiction; self-inconsistency
    • 前程万里 ぜんていばんり Listen a bright (rosy) future awaiting one; having the world before one
    • 前虎後狼 ぜんここうろう Listen one calamity followed close on the heels of another; out of the frying pan into the fire

  • Tattoo check: 前

    • Verified meaning: front, before, previous
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read さき, すすむ, すすめ, せん)

    A single kanji rarely maps one-to-one onto an English word. Read the meanings and associations above as a set — a character that fits the dictionary definition can still carry a connotation you did not intend.

  • Name readings of 前

    Given names 前(さき)Listen

    Surnames 前(すすむ)Listen 前(すすめ)Listen 前(せん)Listen 前(ぜん)Listen 前(まえ)Listen 前(まえさき)Listen 前(まえざき)Listen 前(まえはま)Listen 前(みさき)Listen

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    in front; before

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    in front, forward; preceding

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    front; forward; ahead; first; top (followed by a number); future; ago; before; BC (e.g. 前293年); former; formerly

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    in front, forward; former, preceding

    XSZD Xuéshēng Zìdiǎn (學生字典) - Student's Dictionary

    Opposite of 後 (behind). Such as 庭前 (in front of the courtyard), 堂前 (in front of the hall). | Earlier. Earlier and later is also called 前後. Such as 前驅 (vanguard), 前導 (leader). What is above is also called 前. Such as 前編後編 (earlier and later volumes). | Early; in the past. Such as 前賢 (former sages), 前王 (former kings). Also, seniors are called 前輩. | To advance. Meaning to move forward. Such as 奮往直前 (forge ahead bravely).

  • Onyomi

    tip

    zen(ゼン) ゼン

  • Kunyomi

    tip

    mae(まえ) まえ

  • Strokes

    tip

    9 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    刀 刂 (katana・ritto)

  • Related Keywords

    front before previous ahead allocation guide honorific past antecedent anterior earlier early first former forward initial introductory leading preface preliminary prior in advance

Sentences including 前

  • I would like to see you before i leave.

  • I lost the camera i had bought the day before.

  • I must put my ideas together before i take up a pen.

  • She started ten minutes ago.

  • He took a look at the newspaper before going to bed.

  • In those days , i made it a point to take a walk before breakfast.

  • Come home before it gets dark.

  • Do you happen to know his name?

  • It is quite natural that he should be angry.

  • I see a red car ahead.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

More kanji with the radical 刀 刂 (katana・ritto)

See all kanji with this radical →

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