Meaning of 跟前
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- the front (of)
- (in) front
- (in) sb's presence
- just before (a date)
- (of children, parents etc) at one's side; living with one
How to use 跟前
跟前 usually follows a person or thing to mean right next to or in front of it, often with 到 or 在. It can also mean the time just before a date, as in 春节跟前 (right before Spring Festival). Example: 他走到我跟前。(Tā zǒu dào wǒ gēnqián.) He walked up to me.
跟 (gēn) means heel or to follow, and 前 (qián) means front. Picture someone standing so close they are right at your heels, just in front of you.
Common mistake: Learners often use 前面 (qiánmiàn) and 跟前 interchangeably, but 跟前 stresses being very close, within reach, while 前面 can be far ahead. Also note that 跟前儿 is common in northern speech, and in the sense of children living with parents the second syllable is often neutral tone: gēnqian.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
跟 gēn · heel · 13 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
前 qián · front · 9 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
Related words
Words that share a character with 跟前.
| 前天 | qiántiān | the day before yesterday |
| 前边 | qiánbian | front; the front side |
| 以前 | yǐqián | before; formerly |
| 面前 | miànqián | in front of; facing |
| 前年 | qiánnián | the year before last |
| 目前 | mùqián | at the present time; currently |
| 前面 | qiánmiàn | ahead; in front |
| 前进 | qiánjìn | to go forward; to forge ahead |
| 前往 | qiánwǎng | to leave for; to proceed towards; to go to |
| 眼前 | yǎnqián | before one's eyes; now |
| 提前 | tíqián | to shift to an earlier date; to do sth ahead of time |
| 从前 | cóngqián | previously; formerly |
Questions about 跟前
What does 跟前 mean?
跟前 (gēnqián) means "the front (of); (in) front" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 跟前?
跟前 is made of 2 characters: 跟 (13 strokes), 前 (9 strokes). That is 22 strokes in total.
Is 跟前 an HSK word?
Yes. 跟前 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 跟前 and 面前?
面前 (miànqián) means facing someone and is often used abstractly, as in 在困难面前 (in the face of difficulty). 跟前 is more concrete and colloquial, meaning physically close by.
How do you say a child lives with their parents using 跟前?
You can say 孩子不在父母跟前 (háizi bú zài fùmǔ gēnqian), meaning the child does not live with the parents. In this sense it is often said with a neutral tone on 前.