wǒmen zhǔnbèi qù jīchǎng yǐqián, xiān zài shǒujī shàng mǎi hǎo jīpiào.

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Breakdown of wǒmen zhǔnbèi qù jīchǎng yǐqián, xiān zài shǒujī shàng mǎi hǎo jīpiào.

• 去qù: to go
• 手机shǒujī: phone
• 先xiān: first

Questions & Answers about wǒmen zhǔnbèi qù jīchǎng yǐqián, xiān zài shǒujī shàng mǎi hǎo jīpiào.

What exactly does 准备 (zhǔnbèi) mean here? Is it “prepare” or “plan to”?

In this sentence, 准备 is closer to “plan to / be going to” than “prepare” in the physical sense.

• 我们准备去机场以前… = “We are planning to / we’re going to, before going to the airport…”
• It suggests you have a plan or intention to do something soon.

If you wanted the meaning “get ready” in a more concrete way (pack bags, check documents, etc.), you might say 我们在准备去机场 (“we’re getting ready to go to the airport”), with 在 to emphasize an ongoing action.

Why is it 去机场以前, not 以前去机场?

去机场以前 literally means “before going to the airport”.
In Chinese, 以前 usually comes after the verb phrase it modifies:

• 去机场以前 = before going to the airport
• 吃饭以前 = before eating

If you say 以前去机场, it means “(we) used to go to the airport (in the past)”, where 以前 means “before / in the past”, not “before doing X this time”.
So the word order changes the meaning quite a lot.

Could I also say 在去机场以前? Is there a difference from 去机场以前?

Yes, you can say 在去机场以前, and it’s also correct.

• 在去机场以前 and 去机场以前 both mean “before going to the airport”.