Kanji 前 — "Front"
Here is what 前 means, how it is read, what it is built from, and a story that makes "Front" stick.
Also means: Before
How it is read
ぜん
the reading borrowed from Chinese — usually appears in compound words
まえ, -まえ
the native Japanese reading — usually appears when the kanji stands alone
How to remember it
Kanji are not random strokes. Learn the parts and the whole becomes easy. Put the parts together into one picture. The stranger it is, the harder it is to forget.
A pair of Horns mounted at the Front entrance of the Slaughterhouse — a warning of what's inside!
- 丷 Horns
It's the shape of Horns on both sides. Easy, right!
- 俞 Slaughterhouse
Under the roof with organs and knives, it's a slaughterhouse!
Words that use 前
12 of 24 words in the app that contain this kanji — the most common ones first.
- お前 おまえ you (sing), presence (of a high personage)
- 前 まえ front, before
- 名前 なまえ name
- 当たり前 あたりまえ usual, common, obvious
- 以前 いぜん in the past, before
- 直前 ちょくぜん just before
- 午前 ごぜん morning, A.M.
- 手前 てまえ before, this side
- 駅前 えきまえ the area in front of the station
- 事前 じぜん prior, beforehand, in advance
- 前提 ぜんてい preamble, premise, prerequisite
- 前後 ぜんご front and back, before and after
Want 前 to still be there next month?
Reading it once is not remembering it. The app brings each kanji back right before you would have forgotten it.
