原来 or 以前

[Shahrzad]

Which one sentence is corroct?

1)我原来打算今晚去看你，没想到你来了。

2)我以前打算今晚1去看你，没想到你来了。

[Ethan7890]

我原来打算今晚去看你，没想到你来了。is correct. 

[mungouk]

So why is 以前 incorrect?

 

[roddy]

I don't think it's incorrect, but "originally, formerly" fits better with the implied change of plans. It's a best usage question, rather than a correct or not question. 

[Lu]

I think 以前 is incorrect here. To me, with 以前 it reads like 'I used to plan to go see you tonight (but I have since changed my mind for whatever reason and no longer had any plans to do so).'

 

To me, the answer for these sentences would be roughly:

以前 used to

原来 originally planned

[mungouk]

2 hours ago, Lu said:

以前 used to

 

Edit: Deleted previous reply as I think I maybe get it now!

 

OK so according to GrammarWiki, we can use 以前 to talk about "before" in general (which could equate to something habitual, ie. "used to"), or to talk about "before" a specific time like "before we got married", "before lunch", or even "2 months ago".

 

So if we wanted to use 以前 in the sense of the original example maybe we could say something like this...?

 

午饭以前我打算今晚去看你，没想到你来了

 

(which admittedly is rather awkward.)

 

 

[谢诗骐]

"我原来打算今晚去看你，没想到你来了" sounds better. To add to other forum member explanations, it is similar to how "I had made plans, but..." sounds better than "I once made plans..."

[Lu]

1 hour ago, mungouk said:

Hmmm, not in this case I think... "used to" in English implies something habitual.

But doesn't 以前 also do that? Any sentence I think of with 以前 is like 我以前是用铅笔写字，紫禁城以前是皇帝的住所 and more in that vein.

That would mean that 以前 just won't work in the OP's sentence.

[mungouk]

（Sorry @Lu I just started over again with my answer because I realised why I was confused...)

 

[Lu]

Ahaa, yes of course, two very different usages of 以前 when it is used in a different place in the sentence.

[Time]以前[action]: Before [time] I did [action], [time] can be one moment, not a habitual thing.

以前[action]: I used to do [action] as a habitual thing.

 

I swear I did learn Chinese grammar at some point, but I have since just internalised it and don't know the rules anymore. (Which is why I usually don't answer questions like this and also why I don't teach Chinese.)

[anonymoose]

The problem with saying that something is incorrect is that it is very context dependent. As Roddy said, this is a best usage question rather than a correct incorrect question. In many cases, if something is grammatically correct, a situation can be contrived to make the sentence fit the situation. Consider this sentence:

 

在我和她结婚前，我期盼着你的解放日很久，我以前想追上你，我以前打算今晚去看你，没想到你来了。

[Lu]

Of course, almost any utterance can be put into a context that makes it correct. I even know a lovely story in which the colourless green ideas that sleep furiously make perfect sense.

 

37 minutes ago, anonymoose said:

在我和她结婚前，我期盼着你的解放日很久，我以前想追上你，我以前打算今晚去看你，没想到你来了。

I do think that in this sentence, that last 以前 would still translate as 'used to'. But I'm not a native speaker of English and might be going wrong there.

[anonymoose]

On 5/20/2020 at 7:14 PM, Lu said:

I do think that in this sentence, that last 以前 would still translate as 'used to'.

 

I would probably translate it as something like, "I previously intended to go and see you tonight".

 

The OP just asked which version was correct. I think both could be in a suitable context.

[mungouk]

btw welcome to the forums, @Shahrzad! 

 

You certainly got me thinking with your very first post. ?

[roddy]

Yep, keep the questions coming. 

[Momo220]

The first sentence is correct. The second one doesn't really make sense and can make the listener frown for a sec trying to figure out what you intended to say.

 

 

原来 refers to "truth" or "original plan", for example:

 

Truth: 我一直在想他怎么好长时间没来上班，原来是已经辞职了。

Original Plan: 我原来打算今晚去看你，没想到你来了。