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How to Say ‘Must be done two hours before’ in Traditional Chinese

要在兩小時前

yào zài liǎng xiǎo shí qián

[yao dzeye lyahng shyao-shrr chyen]

💬 Usage Tip: [要在…前] is a useful pattern for deadlines: [要在兩小時前] means something must happen before two hours ahead of the event. You can reuse it with other times, like [要在明天下午前].

Phrase Breakdown

yào

[yao]

need to; must

Shows requirement, necessity, or obligation.

Example

你要在兩小時前通知店家。

You need to notify the restaurant two hours in advance.

zài

[dzeye]

at; in; on

A preposition used to mark location, time, or context.

Example

取消要在兩小時前提出。

The cancellation must be made two hours in advance.

liǎng

[lyahng]

two

Used for the number two before many measure words and time expressions.

Example

規定是要在兩小時前取消。

The rule is that you need to cancel two hours in advance.

小時

xiǎo shí

[shyao-shrr]

hour

A time measure word meaning hour or hours.

Example

我們要在兩小時前完成取消。

We need to complete the cancellation two hours ahead.

qián

[chyen]

before; in advance of

Used to indicate an earlier time than something else.

Example

訂位要在兩小時前處理取消。

The reservation cancellation must be handled two hours beforehand.

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