にあたって, に先立ち, and に際して
にあって、に先立ち、and に際して are all ways to say before.
They are all pretty formal expressions, so you probably wont’ see them that much.
にあたって
Before…
Plain form verb + にあたって
Noun + にあたって
にあたって is a phrase meaning “Before an Occasion…“.
Unsurprisingly, it lists things that happen in preparation for a certain occasion.
More surprisingly, it may list things done before or at a specific time (Technically before)
にあたって is the most common of the phrases here.
This may appear as にあたり, にあたっては or にあっての (Noun modification).
Only special event type nouns tend to come before にあたって
Examples
- 学校に行くにあたって、本を鞄に入れる – Put your books in your bag before going to school.
- 警官になるにあたっては、よく考えてから決めることだ – You should think hard before you decide to become a cop.
- 旅行にあたってのお金を準備する – Prepare the money used when traveling.
- 卒業にあたり、送りたい言葉がある – There’s something I want to say to you (now) at graduation.
- スピーチをするにあたっての準備 – Preparations for (when) giving a speech.
- 家具を組み立てるにあたって説明書は重要だ – When putting together furniture, the instructions are important.
にあたる
あたる may also mean “hit” or “apply” so be careful not to confuse this meaning with the meaning above.
- 仕事にあたってください – Please get to work.
- 全員この問題にあたってください – Everyone please work on the issue.
に先立ち
In Advance of…(Necessary)
Plain form verb + に先立ち
Noun + に先立ち
に先立ち (にさきだち) means “In advance of“.
It is used to list a necessary preparation for some other task or event.
This pattern may appear as に先立ち、に先立って、or に先立つ (Somewhat rare)
Examples
- VIPの到着に先立ち, ホテルを掃除した – In advance of the VIP’s arrival, cleaned the hotel.
- 申請に先立って顔写真を用意した – In advance of the application, got a face picture.
- 子供が生まれるに先立って、コンセントにカバーを付けた – In advance of the kid being born, covered the outlets.
- 先立つもの – “The thing that has to come before” -> Money
- 旅行に先立つ準備 – Preparations in advance of travelling.
に際して
Just before or during
Plain form verb + に際して
Noun + に際して
に際して (にさいして) means the “Just before” or “during” an occasion.
に際して is more likely to appear in writing.
It may appear as に際して、に際し、に際しての、 and に際しては。
Examples
- 結婚に際して披露宴が行われた – An announcement party was held before they got married.
- アパート探しに際して、条件を絞らないといけない – Before searching for an apartment, you have to limit your conditions.
- 卒業に際しての準備があるんだ – There are preparations to be made when/before graduating
- 家具を組み立てるに際しては説明書を読むのは重要だ – When/before putting together furniture, reading the instructions is important.
際
Occasion
際 (さい) is another word for 時, sort of like “occasion” and “time”.
際 tends to be used in more formal speech and writing, but otherwise has the same meaning.
It is generally not used for past tense phrases like “子供の時” or “幼い時”
- 事故の際は警察を呼ぶ – Call the police when there’s an accident.
- 会議の日程が決まった際はまた連絡する – I will contact you when the date and time is set for the meeting.