<p>在 implies &quot;at that time&quot; [When?] &quot;before you leave&quot; - 你走以前. 在 modify the phrase 你走以前.</p>
<p>在我回來之前 你最好已離去 - You have better left already [When?] before I come back.</p>
<p>在秋冬交接之際 很容易感冒 - It's fairly easy to catch a cold [When?] during the change from Fall to Winter.</p>
<p>The words &quot;從&quot;, &quot;自&quot;, &quot;打&quot; can form a sentence in the same pattern to imply</p>
<p>從/自/打妳離我而去那日起 我就決定重新開始了/改變自己了. - I've made up my mind to have a fresh start/to change myself [When?] since the day you left me.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-16T16:24:54.067Z
2021-10-16T16:24:54.067Z
r13
<p>&quot;在&quot; as an adverb indicates an ongoing action.</p>
<p>But as a preposition it can indicate not only a place, but also time, scope, condition, etc.</p>
<p>In the sentence &quot;在你走以前我们要给你开一个宴会”, it indicates time.</p>
<p>One more example of 在 indicating time (from 《现代汉语词典》):</p>
<p>事情发生在去年。</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-16T14:55:40.970Z
2021-10-16T15:02:39.787Z
2021-10-16T15:02:39.787Z
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com
<p>The following sentence uses 在 in a way I haven't seen until now:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“在你走以前我们要给你开一个宴会。”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I roughly translated it as: &quot;Before you go, we are going to give you a banquet&quot;, which I feel is a good enough translation.</p>
<p>However, I don't understand why the author uses 在 in this sentence, as I learned that 在 indicates a place, or marks an ongoing action, not some action that will still occur.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-17T06:05:29.973Z
開一個宴會？？？more like 舉辦一場宴會。
joehua
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-17T06:08:18.780Z
before: 在...之前; after: 在....之後.
joehua
<grammar>
在 meaning “When”
# 在 meaning “When”

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-10-16)

The following sentence uses 在 in a way I haven't seen until now:

> “在你走以前我们要给你开一个宴会。”

I roughly translated it as: "Before you go, we are going to give you a banquet", which I feel is a good enough translation.

However, I don't understand why the author uses 在 in this sentence, as I learned that 在 indicates a place, or marks an ongoing action, not some action that will still occur.

**Tags:** grammar

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 開一個宴會？？？more like 舉辦一場宴會。  
> **username_1**: before: 在...之前; after: 在....之後.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2021-10-16. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

在 implies "at that time" [When?] "before you leave" - 你走以前. 在 modify the phrase 你走以前.

在我回來之前 你最好已離去 - You have better left already [When?] before I come back.

在秋冬交接之際 很容易感冒 - It's fairly easy to catch a cold [When?] during the change from Fall to Winter.

The words "從", "自", "打" can form a sentence in the same pattern to imply

從/自/打妳離我而去那日起 我就決定重新開始了/改變自己了. - I've made up my mind to have a fresh start/to change myself [When?] since the day you left me.


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2021-10-16. Score: 4

"在" as an adverb indicates an ongoing action.

But as a preposition it can indicate not only a place, but also time, scope, condition, etc.

In the sentence "在你走以前我们要给你开一个宴会”, it indicates time.

One more example of 在 indicating time (from 《现代汉语词典》):

事情发生在去年。


---

