Time and Space in Chinese: How “前” Means Both “Before” in time and “After” in space?

If you’ve started learning Chinese, like if you learn Mandarin online, you may have noticed something curious about the words 前 (qián) and 后 (hòu). These words seem to carry double meanings — when referring to time vs. to space. For example: 

• 前天 = the day before yesterday (like, here it means "more back" in time than the event)
  
  
• 前面 = in front (spatially) (as in "more in front, ahead" of the object)
  
  

Do you get it? Have you ever thought about this?

Similarly: 

• 后天 = the day after tomorrow (like "more after, ahead" of the event)
  
  
• 后面 = behind or at the back (spacially, like "more back" than the object)
  
  

Wait, so is 前 “before” or “in front”? And is 后 “after” or “behind”? The answer is: both — and this duality isn’t a quirk of Chinese alone. It reveals a deep metaphorical link that many languages share: we often understand time by using the language of space. A good online Chinese teacher may have made you aware of that before.

Across Languages: Chinese, English, and German 

Let’s take a look across three languages: 

In Chinese: 

• 他前天来了。 → “He came the day before yesterday.” (temporal) 
• 他在我前面。 → “He is in front of me.” (spatial) 
  
  

In English: 

• “He came before I did.” (temporal) 
• “He stood before me.” (spatial, though now a bit poetic) 
  
  

In German: 

• Bevor er kam... → “Before he came...” (temporal) 
• Vor ihm stand ich. → “I stood in front of him.” (spatial) 
  
  

All three languages link “before/in front of” and “after/behind.” The direction of time is metaphorically projected onto the body's orientation in space, but the other way around!!! The same is true for “after” or 后: 

• 他后天回来。 → “He’ll return the day after tomorrow.” (temporal) 
• 他走在我后面。 → “He walks behind me.” (spatial) 
  
  

Why the Confusion? 

For learners, this overlap can feel confusing at first — especially because the same character in Chinese expresses both meanings, and it’s context that tells you which one is intended. But actually, this isn’t arbitrary. Across many cultures, we experience time as a kind of movement through space. In Chinese, the future is often conceptualized as behind us — out of view, uncertain. The past is in front — already seen, already experienced. 

In Western thinking, this is sometimes reversed: the future lies “ahead,” and the past “behind.” Yet in everyday speech, we still mix the two: 

• “We left those times behind us.” 
  
  
• “We look forward to tomorrow.” 
  
  

Both German and English preserve this dual usage — vor / “before” for both time and space, and nach / “after” as well. Chinese just uses its own set of symbols — and relies on compound words or context to clarify. Schools like GoEast Mandarin teaching Chinese will too mention these in classes to realise such mesmerising points about languages. Making aware of these may help you to understand aspects of the language's structure better. It is in your own language, too!

A Philosophical Perspective 

These expressions hint at deeper cultural patterns, too. Chinese thought, especially in classical texts, often views time not as a linear march “forward” but as something cyclical or seen through change in the environment — seasons, positions, ancestors. In that light, the idea that the past could be “in front” of us — already known — makes poetic sense. 

For Learners 

If you're learning Chinese, don’t be discouraged by this seeming contradiction. Instead, appreciate it as an example of how language encodes how we see the world. Context will guide you: 

• If you see 前/后 with 面 (face, side), it’s about space. 
  
  
• If you see it with 天 (day), 年 (year), or 时间 (time), it’s temporal. 
  
  

And as a bonus, noticing this pattern might help you better understand your own language — how deeply metaphors of space shape even our most basic thoughts about time.