以前more basic than; before even asking
A以前の問題だ says the trouble lies deeper than A: something more basic is wrong, so A isn't even the question yet. This is not the time word 以前, "before" or "formerly".
The trouble with his acting is more basic than technique: he hasn't learned his lines.
Before we even ask whether it is convenient, this app won't start.
How to form it
A + 以前の問題だ ／ A + 以前に、…
A is what you would normally judge by. A noun: 味, 能力, 技術. A question: 便利かどうか. A pair of opposites: 好き嫌い, するしない. それ以前の問題だ points back at what was just raised.
- After it
- の問題だ or, more in talk, の話だ; or に and then a blunt statement of the more basic thing that is wrong or missing, or that has to be done first.
- Tone
- Blunt. It says the basics aren't there, so it is mostly criticism: of a plan, a product, someone's work.
- Where you'll meet it
- Conversation, reviews, comment and debate. People say it as readily as they write it.
In use
This restaurant's problem is more basic than how the food tastes: the kitchen isn't kept clean.
Before we even decide whether to sign, we should check that the other company really exists.
Never mind whether he is good or bad at it: he has no motivation.
The person at yesterday's interview: do they look capable?
It never got that far. They were thirty minutes late and didn't even apologize.
Not the time word
By itself or after a date (2010年以前, "in or before 2010"), 以前 is about time. After something you would judge, it is "more basic than". So the same three words can read two ways.
The earlier problem has come up again.
Nothing before 以前: time. The problem from before.
That is a problem that comes before any question of ability.
能力 before it: not time. Ability isn't even the question yet.
Close neighbours
前にN5
"Before" in time, as people say it. The time word 以前 is a more formal 前に.
I've seen this movie before.
はともかくN2
Sets a point aside to get to what matters more. Nothing is said to be wrong underneath; with 以前 something is.
Leaving the finer points of wording aside, the content is well organized.
Check yourself
1Which ending fits?
この
Choose an answer to see why.
2In which sentence is 以前 about time?
Choose an answer to see why.
More detail
A verb in the dictionary form can come before it too.
Never mind judging the content: I can't read the handwriting.
More sentences
Before we even ask whether this project is interesting, there is no budget in sight for it.
Never mind whether we can win: we haven't even qualified yet.
They are debating the rights and wrongs of the reform plan, but if nobody even knows how the present system really works, the problem lies further back than that.