Get previous one
<html> <head> <script type="text/javascript" src="js/jquery-1.3.2.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> $(document).ready(function(){ $("div").prev(".selected").css("background", "yellow"); }); </script> </head> <body> <body> <div class="selected">asdf</div> <div>asdf</div> </body> </html>