qiānbǐ 铅笔 [modif: 铅 lead + 笔 pen] N pencil (支 zhī) ■ 我的红铅笔哪里去了？Wǒ de hóng qiānbǐ
nǎlǐ qù le? Where’s my red pencil? ■ 我可 以用一下你的铅笔吗？Wǒ kěyǐ yòng yíxià nǐ de
qiānbǐ ma? May I use your pencil for a while?
qiānbǐ dāo 铅笔刀 N pencil sharpener
qiānbǐ hé 铅笔盒 N pencil box
qián 前 N 1 front, in front of (ANTONYM 后 hòu) ■ 房子前有一块草地。Fángzi qián yǒu yí kuài cǎodì. In
front of the house there’s a lawn. ■ 中 国人的姓名，姓在前，名在后。Zhōngguórén de
xìngmíng, xìng zài qián, míng zài hòu. In a Chinese person’s name, the family name comes before
the given name. 2 same as 以前 yǐqián
NOTE: In everyday Chinese, 前 qián is seldom used alone to mean front or in front of. Often it is better to
use 前边 qiánbian.qiánbian 前边 [modif: 前 front + 边 side] N front (ANTONYM 后边 hòubian) ■ 房子前边有一块草 地。
Fángzi qiánbian yǒu yí kuài cǎodì. In front of the house, there’s a lawn. ■ 中国人的姓名姓 在前
边，名在后边。Zhōngguórén de xìngmíng, xìng zài qiánbian, míng zài hòubian. In a Chinese
person’s name, the family name comes before the given name.
qiánjìn 前进 [comp: 前 advance + 进 advance] V advance (ANTONYM 后退 hòutuì) ■ 我们的经济在 过去
一年又前进了一大步。Wǒmen de jīngjì zài guòqù yì nián yòu qiánjìn le yí dà bù. Last year our
economy took a big stride forward.
qiánjǐng 前景 [modif: 前 front + 景 view] N prospect, vista ■ 前景不妙。Qiánjǐng búmiào. The future
doesn’t look too promising.
qiánmiàn 前面 N same as 前边 qiánbian
qiánnián 前年 N the year before last ■ 今年是 2015年，前年是2013年。Jīnnián shì èr-líng-yī-wǔ nián,
qiánnián shì èr-líng-yī-sān nián. This year is 2015 and the year before last was 2013. ■ 前年 我刚
开始学中文。Qiánnián wǒ gāng kāishǐ xué Zhōngwén. I just began to learn Chinese the year
before last.
qiántí 前提 N 1 prerequisite, the prime consideration 2 (in logic) premise
qiántiān 前天 N the day before yesterday ■ 他 前天去中国，今天我收到了他从中国发来的电 子邮
件。 Tá qiántiān qù Zhōngguó, jīntiān wǒ shōudàole tā cóng Zhōngguó fālai de diànzǐ yóujiàn.
He left for China the day before yesterday, and today I got an e-mail he sent from China.
qiántú 前途 [modif: 前 in front + 途 journey] N future, prospects, future prospects ■ 这次计划的 成败
将决定公司的前途。Zhè cì jìhuà de chéngbài jiāng juédìng gōngsī de qiántú. The success or
failure of this plan will determine the future prospects of the company.
qián 潜 ADJ hidden, latent
qiánlì 潜力 [modif: 潜 hidden + 力 strength] N latent capacity, potential, potentiality
qiánshuǐ 潜水 V go underwater, dive
qiánshuǐyuán 潜水员 N diver, frogman
qián yí mò huà 潜移默化 IDIOM influence imperceptibly, act on subtly
qián 钱 TRAD 錢 N money (笔 bǐ) ■ 他在银行里有 一大笔钱。Tā zài yínháng li yǒu yí dà bǐ qián. He
has a big sum of money in the bank. ■ 他从来不 向人借钱，也不借钱给别人。Tā cónglái bú
xiàng rén jiè qián, yě bú jiè qián gěi biéren. He never borrows money, nor does he lend money to
others.
qiánbāo 钱包 N wallet, purse
qiǎn 谴 TRAD 譴 V as in 谴责 qiǎnzé
qiǎnzé 谴责 V condemn, denounce
qiǎn 浅 TRAD 淺 ADJ 1 shallow (ANTONYM 深 shēn) ■ 这条河很浅，可以走过去。Zhè tiáo hé hěn qiǎn,
kěyǐ zǒu guòqù. This river is shallow. You can wade across it. 2 easy, of low standard ■ 这 本书太
浅，你不用看。Zhè běn shū tài qiǎn, nǐ bú yòng kàn. This book is too easy for you; you don’t
have to read it.
qiàn 欠 V owe, be in debt to ■ 他欠我一百元。Tā qiàn wǒ yìbǎi yuán. He owes me a hundred yuan.
qiàn