之前

In a sentence

• 我在出门之前检查了门锁。

  I checked the door lock before leaving the house.

  The word '之前' specifies an action occurring prior to '出门' (leaving the house), indicating temporal precedence.

• 他提到的那个故事发生在战争之前。

  The story he mentioned happened before the war.

  Here, '之前' is used to denote a time frame prior to '战争' (the war), providing historical or sequence context.

• 在你离开之前，我还有话要说。

  Before you leave, I have more to say.

  In this example, '之前' establishes a time context relevant to the act of '离开' (leaving), ensuring the sequence of events.