在他倒下前我抓住了他的手臂。

I caught him by the arm before he could fall.

Source: Tatoeba

Sentence Composition

1 在 zài
  1. to exist; to be alive
  2. (of sb or sth) to be (located) at
  3. (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress)
2 他 tā
  1. (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his
  2. (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日 tārì and 他人 tārén)
3 倒下 dǎoxià
  1. to collapse
  2. to topple over
4 前 qián
  1. front
  2. forward
  3. ahead
  4. first
  5. top (followed by a number)
  6. future
  7. ago
  8. before
  9. BC (e.g. 前293年)
  10. former
  11. formerly
5 我 wǒ
  1. I
  2. me
  3. my
6 抓住 zhuāzhù to grab hold of; to capture
=7 了 le
  1. (completed action marker)
  2. (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now)
  3. (modal particle intensifying preceding clause)
=7 了 liǎo
  1. to finish
  2. (used with 得 dé or 不 bù after a verb to express (im)possibility, as in 忘不了 wàngbuliǎo "cannot forget")
  3. (literary) (usually followed by a negative such as 无 wú or 不 bù) completely (not); entirely (not); (not) in the least
  4. to understand clearly (variant of 了 liǎo)
=7 了 liǎo
  1. (of eyes) bright
  2. clear-sighted
  3. to understand clearly
=7 了 liào unofficial variant of 瞭 liào
8 他 tā
  1. (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his
  2. (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日 tārì and 他人 tārén)
=9 的 de
  1. of; ~'s (possessive particle)
  2. (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun)
  3. (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis)
  4. (used after a noun, verb or adjective to form a nominal expression, as in 皮革的 pígéde "one made of leather" or 跑堂儿的 pǎotángrde "a waiter (literally, one who runs back and forth in a restaurant)" or 新的 xīnde "new one")
  5. also pr. dì or di in poetry and songs
=9 的 dī a taxi; a cab (abbr. for 的士 dīshì)
=9 的 dí really and truly
=9 的 dì (bound form) bull's-eye; target
10 手臂 shǒubì
  1. arm
  2. helper