particle N4 common casualpolitewritten

前から — from before / for a while now

前から・まえから

Builds on 前

Meaning

from before / since a while back / for some time now — marks a starting point in the past from which a state has continued

前まえ ('before') + から ('from') names an earlier point and says something has held true ever since. It often conveys 'for a while now, not just recently' — 前まえから知しっていた = 'I'd known for some time'. Pair it with a duration (一週間いっしゅうかん前まえから) to pin the start, or use 以前いぜんから for a more formal 'from earlier on'.

Key sentence

前まえから行いってみたかった店みせです。

It's a restaurant I'd been wanting to try for a while.

Formation

Attaches to	Form	Example
前 (optionally after a duration) + から	(〜)前 + から	前まえから / 三日みっか前まえから

Examples

その話はなしは前まえから聞きいていました。

I'd heard about that beforehand / for a while.

彼かれとは前まえからの知しり合あいだ。

He and I have known each other for a long time.

一週間いっしゅうかん前まえから熱ねつが続つづいている。

I've had a fever continuing since a week ago.

Easily confused with

前前まえ names a time point ('before / ago'); 前まえから adds から to make it a *starting point* a state has run from ('since before, ever since'). から (from) Plain noun + から marks any start point (三時さんじから); 前まえから fixes that start vaguely in the past — 'from some earlier time', stressing duration up to now.

Notes

Contrast 前まえに ('at an earlier point', a one-time event) with 前まえから ('from an earlier point onward', a continuing state): 前まえに会あった (met once before) vs 前まえから会あいたかった (had wanted to meet for a while).

See 前から in real sentences

Jengo shows 前から the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.

Study it in Jengo

Sources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar.

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