…的时候 / …以前 / …以后 (When / Before / After) | Chinese (Mandarin) Grammar

English builds a time-clause by leading with the connective: "when I was young," "before you leave," "after class." Chinese runs the machinery in reverse. It takes the whole clause — 我小 ("I [am/was] young") — and stamps a postposed marker on the end: 我小的时候 ("when I was young"). The connective is a tag at the back, not a signpost at the front. Master three of these tags — 的时候 (when), 以前 (before), 以后 (after) — and you can locate any event in time. The one structural habit to build first: the time-clause comes first, and its marker sits at the end of it.

The pattern: [clause] + marker

Build the clause exactly as a normal sentence, then attach the time-word to its tail. The whole thing usually leads, and the main clause follows.

Clause	marker	Meaning
我吃饭 (I eat)	的时候	when I eat
睡觉 (sleep)	以前	before sleeping
下课 (class ends)	以后	after class

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Picture two moves. First build the clause (我小 "I'm young"), then tag the time-word on the end (…的时候). English does it front-to-back; Chinese does it back-to-front. If you feel yourself reaching for a word at the front, you're translating English word order — stop and wrap the clause instead.

…的时候 — "when / while"

的时候 (de shíhou, "at the time of") is the workhorse "when." Attach it to any clause to frame a stretch of time during which something else happens. Note the 的: in everyday speech it's obligatory (the literary short form 时 drops it, but that's a written register).

我小的时候住在乡下，天天在河里游泳。

wǒ xiǎo de shíhou zhù zài xiāngxià, tiāntiān zài hé lǐ yóuyǒng

When I was little I lived in the countryside, swimming in the river every day. (neutral, nostalgic)

你不在的时候，有人来找过你。

nǐ bú zài de shíhou, yǒu rén lái zhǎo guo nǐ

While you were out, someone came looking for you. (informal)

吃饭的时候别看手机。

chī fàn de shíhou bié kàn shǒujī

Don't look at your phone while you're eating. (informal)

…以前 — "before"

以前 (yǐqián, "before") tags the end of a clause to mean "before [that happens]." It also attaches to a noun or number-time to mean "ago": 三天以前 ("three days ago"), 两年以前 ("two years ago") — this is the flip side of the 前/后 localizers on 前/后 front-back. The number-time runs before 以前, never after it.

睡觉以前，我喜欢看会儿书。

shuìjiào yǐqián, wǒ xǐhuan kàn huìr shū

Before going to sleep, I like to read for a bit. (informal)

来中国以前，我一句中文都不会说。

lái Zhōngguó yǐqián, wǒ yí jù Zhōngwén dōu bú huì shuō

Before coming to China, I couldn't speak a word of Chinese. (neutral)

他两年以前就搬走了。

tā liǎng nián yǐqián jiù bān zǒu le

He moved away two years ago. (neutral) — 以前 attached to a number-time = 'ago'.

…以后 — "after"

以后 (yǐhòu, "after") is the mirror image. Tag it onto a clause for "after [that happens]," or onto a number-time for "later / from now on." A completed event in the clause often carries 了 (吃了饭以后 "after eating").

下课以后我们去打球吧。

xià kè yǐhòu wǒmen qù dǎ qiú ba

After class let's go play ball. (informal)

毕业以后你打算做什么？

bìyè yǐhòu nǐ dǎsuan zuò shénme

What do you plan to do after graduating? (neutral)

吃了饭以后再走吧，别急着回去。

chī le fàn yǐhòu zài zǒu ba, bié jí zhe huíqù

Leave after you've eaten — no rush to get back. (informal) — completed clause takes 了.

The formal twins: 之前 / 之后

In writing and formal speech, 之前 (zhīqián) and 之后 (zhīhòu) stand in for 以前 / 以后 with no change in meaning — just a lift in register. You'll meet them in contracts, notices, and news; in casual conversation, 以前 / 以后 dominate.

会议开始之前，请把手机调成静音。

huìyì kāishǐ zhīqián, qǐng bǎ shǒujī tiáo chéng jìngyīn

Before the meeting begins, please set your phones to silent. (formal)

签合同之后，双方都要遵守约定。

qiān hétong zhīhòu, shuāngfāng dōu yào zūnshǒu yuēdìng

After signing the contract, both parties must honor the agreement. (formal, legal)

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Word order to burn in: the whole time-clause leads, and its marker sits at the very end of it — [clause + 的时候／以前／以后]，[main clause]. The marker never floats out into the main clause, and it never jumps to the front of its own clause.

Common Mistakes

1. Fronting the marker, English-style. The time-word tags the end of the clause, not the front.

❌ 以前睡觉，我喜欢看会儿书。

Wrong — the marker goes at the end of the clause: 睡觉以前，我喜欢看会儿书。

✅ 睡觉以前，我喜欢看会儿书。

shuìjiào yǐqián, wǒ xǐhuan kàn huìr shū

Before sleeping, I like to read for a bit. — 以前 at the tail of 睡觉.

2. Dropping the 的 in 的时候. In speech, 时候 needs its 的.

❌ 你走时候告诉我。

Incomplete — spoken 时候 takes 的: 你走的时候告诉我。

✅ 你走的时候告诉我。

nǐ zǒu de shíhou gàosu wǒ

Tell me when you leave. — 的时候 intact.

3. Putting the number after 以前 ('ago'). The number-time comes before 以前.

❌ 以前三天他就走了。

Wrong order — number-time first: 三天以前他就走了。

✅ 三天以前他就走了。

sān tiān yǐqián tā jiù zǒu le

He left three days ago. — 三天 before 以前.

4. Using 以后 to mean 'and then'. 以后 means "after [an event]"; for sequencing two actions ("first…, then…") you want 然后 — see 先…然后…再.

❌ 我先吃饭，以后去睡觉。

Wrong connective — 'and then' is 然后: 我先吃饭，然后去睡觉。

✅ 我先吃饭，然后去睡觉。

wǒ xiān chī fàn, ránhòu qù shuìjiào

I'll eat first, then go to sleep. — 然后 for sequencing.

Key Takeaways

Chinese frames a time-clause with a postposed marker: [clause] + 的时候 (when) / 以前 (before) / 以后 (after). The connective is a tag at the back, not a signpost at the front.
The time-clause comes first, marker at its very end, then the main clause: 睡觉以前，我看书。
的时候 keeps its 的 in speech; 以前 / 以后 also attach to a number-time for "ago / later" (三天以前 = "three days ago"), with the number before the marker.
之前 / 之后 are the formal, written twins of 以前 / 以后.
以后 = "after an event"; for "and then" (sequencing actions) use 然后, not 以后.

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