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曾经
曾經
céng jīng
adv. once, formerly, previously
Discussion of 曾经/曾經
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以前 vs 曾经

1. 以前 is a noun, 曾经 is an adverb. 以前 can be a subject in a sentence or an object of a verb/preposition, and it can modify other nouns; 曾经 cannot be used in this way. 曾经 cannot replace 以前 in the following two example sentences:

E.g. Subject: 以前比较轻松，现在就不一样了。In the past it used to be more relaxing; now things are different.
E.g. Object of presosition 跟: 你还跟以前一样。 [phr] You are still the same as before.
E.g. Modify another noun: 他是我以前的同事。 [phr] He is my former coworker.

2. 以前 can be used after a point/ a period of time referring to something happened in the past; it can used after a point of time referring to something that's going to happen in the future. 曾经 cannot be used in these ways:
E.g.
三点半以前 [phr] before 3 o'clock
三年以前 [phr] three years ago
她妈妈不让她在十八岁以前与异性朋友交往。 [phr] Her mother didn't allow her to make male friends before eighteen.

3. 曾经 and 以前 can both be the adverbial adjunct of a sentence. They can both appear after the subject the before the predicate:
E.g.
我以前做过销售经理。 [phr] I used to work as a sales manager.
We can also say: 我曾经做过销售经理。
lisaC
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What other words could I use instead of 曾经 (céngjīng)?
个学生
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Can 曾经 (céngjīng) be used to indicate something that happened in the past or something that is still happening now?
个学生
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Is 曾经 (céngjīng) considered formal or informal language?
个学生
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