before

be·fore  (b-fôr, -fr)

adv.

1. Earlier in time: They called me the day before.

2. In front; ahead.

prep.

1. Previous to in time; earlier than.

2. In front of.

3. In store for; awaiting: The young man's whole life lies before him.

4. Into or in the presence of: She asked that the visitor be brought before her.

5. Under the consideration or jurisdiction of: The case is now before the court.

6. In a position superior to: The prince is before his brother in the line of succession.

conj.

1. In advance of the time when: See me before you leave.

2. Rather than; sooner than: I will die before I will betray my country.

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[Middle English bifore, from Old English beforan; see per¹ in Indo-European roots.]

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before [bɪˈfɔː]

conj (subordinating)

1. earlier than the time when

2. rather than he'll resign before he agrees to it

prep

1. preceding in space or time; in front of; ahead of standing before the altar

2. when confronted by to withdraw before one's enemies

3. in the presence of to be brought before a judge

4. in preference to to put friendship before money

adv

at an earlier time; previously; beforehand; in front

[Old English beforan; related to Old Frisian befara, Old High German bifora]

Thesaurus

Adv.	1.	before - earlier in time; previously; "I had known her before"; "as I said before"; "he called me the day before but your call had come even earlier"; "her parents had died four years earlier"; "I mentioned that problem earlier" earlier
	2.	before - at or in the front; "I see the lights of a town ahead"; "the road ahead is foggy"; "staring straight ahead"; "we couldn't see over the heads of the people in front"; "with the cross of Jesus marching on before" ahead, in front

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before

preposition

1. earlier than, ahead of, prior to, in advance of, B4 (S.M.S.) Annie was born a few weeks before Christmas.
earlier than after, following, succeeding

2. ahead of, in front of, in advance of, to the fore of They stopped before a large white villa.

3. in front of, in the presence of, before the eyes of The Government will appear before the committee.

4. ahead of, in front of, in advance of I saw before me an idyllic life.

5. in preference to, over, rather than, above, instead of, sooner than, over and above Her husband, her children, and the Church come before her needs.

adverb

1. previously, earlier, sooner, in advance, formerly, B4 (S.M.S.) The war had ended only a month or so before.
previously after, later, afterwards, subsequently, thereafter

2. in the past, earlier, once, previously, formerly, at one time, hitherto, beforehand, B4 (S.M.S.), a while ago, heretofore, in days or years gone by I've been here before.

Related words
prefixes ante-, fore-, pre-

Translations

before [bɪˈfɔːʳ]

When before is an element in a phrasal verb, eg come before, go before, look up the verb.

A. PREP

1. (in time, order, rank) → antes de
before Christ → antes de Cristo
the week before last → hace dos semanas
before long (in future) → antes de poco; (in past) → poco después
before going, would you → antes de marcharte, quieres ...
income before tax → renta f bruta or antes de impuestos
profits before tax → beneficios mpl preimpositivos

2. (in place) → delante de; (= in the presence of) → ante, delante de, en presencia de
they were married before a judge → se casaron en presencia de un juez

3. (= facing) the question before us (in meeting) → el asunto que tenemos que discutir
the problem before us is → el problema que se nos plantea es ...
the task before us → la tarea que tenemos por delante
we still have two hours before us → tenemos todavía dos horas por delante
a new life lay before him → una vida nueva se abría ante él

4. (= rather than) I should choose this one before that → yo escogería éste antes que aquél
death before dishonour! → ¡antes la muerte que el deshonor!

B. ADV

1. (time) → antes
a moment before → un momento antes
the day before → el día anterior
before, it used to be different → antes, todo era distinto
on this occasion and the one before → en esta ocasión y la anterior

2. (place, order) → delante, adelante
before and behind → por delante y por detrás
that chapter and the one before → ese capítulo y el anterior

C. CONJ (time) → antes de que; (rather than) → antes que

BEFORE

Time

Adverb

• When before is an adverb, you can usually translate it using antes:

Why didn't you say so before? ¿Por qué no lo has dicho antes? I had spoken to her before Había hablado con ella antes

• But the before in never before and ever before is often not translated:

I've never been to Spain before Nunca he estado en España I had never been to a police station before Nunca había estado (antes) en una comisaría It's not true that the working class is earning more money than ever before No es cierto que la clase obrera gane más dinero que nunca

• The day/night/week before should usually be translated using el día/la noche/la semana anterior:

The night before, he had gone to a rock concert La noche anterior había ido a un concierto de rock

• In more formal contexts, where before could be substituted by previously, anteriormente is another option:

As I said before... Como he dicho antes or anteriormente...

• When before is equivalent to already, translate using ya (antes) or, in questions about whether someone has done what they are doing now before, using ¿es la primera vez que...?:

"How about watching this film?" - "Actually, I've seen it before" -¿Vemos esa película? -"Es que ya la he visto" I had been to Glasgow a couple of times before Ya había estado (antes) en Glasgow un par de veces Have you been to Spain before? ¿Has estado ya en España? or ¿Es la primera vez que vienes a España?

• Translate ((PERIOD OF TIME)) + before using hacía + ((PERIOD OF TIME)):

They had married nearly 40 years before Se habían casado hacía casi 40 años

! Hacía is invariable in this sense.

Preposition

• When before is a preposition, you can usually translate it using antes de:

Please ring before seven Por favor, llama antes de las siete Shall we go for a walk before dinner? ¿Nos vamos a dar un paseo antes de cenar?

• But use antes que with names of people and personal pronouns when they stand in for a verb:

If you get there before me or before I do, wait for me in the bar Si llegas antes que yo, espérame en el bar

• Translate before + ((-ING)) using antes de + ((INFINITIVE)):

He said goodbye to the children before leaving Se despidió de los niños antes de irse
Conjunction

• When before is a conjunction, you can usually translate it using antes de que + ((SUBJUNCTIVE)):

I'll ask Peter about it before he goes away on holiday Se lo preguntaré a Peter antes de que se vaya de vacaciones We reached home before the storm broke Llegamos a casa antes de que empezara la tormenta

• If the subject of both clauses is the same, antes de + ((INFINITIVE)) is usually used rather than antes de que:

Give me a ring before you leave the office Llámame antes de salir de la oficina

NOTE This construction is also sometimes used in colloquial Spanish when the subjects are different:

Before you arrived she was very depressed Antes de llegar tú, estaba muy deprimida

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before [bɪˈfɔː^r]

prep

(in time) (= prior to) → avant
before Tuesday → avant mardi

(in time) (= ahead of) → devant
The weeks stretched out before him → Les semaines s'étendaient devant lui.

(in space) → devant
to lie before sb [task, duty] → attendre qn; [choice] → se présenter à qn; [scene] → s'étendre devant qn

conj (gen) → avant que + subj; (when subject of both clauses is the same) → avant de
I'll phone before I leave → J'appellerai avant de partir.
before she goes → avant qu'elle parte, avant qu'elle ne parte
before doing sth → avant de faire qch
Before opening the packet, read the instructions → Avant d'ouvrir le paquet, lisez le mode d'emploi.
before going → avant de partir

adv (= earlier) → avant
a week before → une semaine auparavant
the week before → la semaine précédente, la semaine d'avant
the day before → la veille
the night before → la veille au soir

(= already) → déjà
I've seen it before → Je l'ai déjà vu.
I've seen this film before → J'ai déjà vu ce film.
Have you been to Scotland before? → Vous êtes déjà allé en Écosse?

(= previously)
I've never seen it before → C'est la première fois que je le vois.
I've never been here before → C'est la première fois que je viens ici.

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before

prep

(= earlier than) → vor (+dat); the year before last/this → vorletztes/letztes Jahr, das vorletzte/letzte Jahr; the day before yesterday → vorgestern; the day/time before that → der Tag/die Zeit davor; before Christ (abbr BC) → vor Christi Geburt (abbr v. Chr.); I got/was here before you → ich war vor dir da; that was before my time → das war vor meiner Zeit; he died before his time → er ist früh gestorben; to be before somebody/something → vor jdm/etw liegen; before then → vorher; before now → früher, eher, vorher; you should have done it before now → das hättest du schon (eher) gemacht haben sollen; before long → bald; before everything else → zuallererst

(in order, rank) → vor (+dat); to come before somebody/something → vor jdm/etw kommen; I believe in honour (Brit) or honor (US) before everything → die Ehre geht mir über alles, für mich ist die Ehre das Wichtigste; ladies before gentlemen → Damen haben den Vortritt

(in position) → vor (+dat); (with movement) → vor (+acc); before my (very) eyes → vor meinen Augen; the task before us (= with which we are dealing) → die uns vorliegende Aufgabe; (= with which we are confronted) → die Aufgabe, vor der wir stehen; (= which lies ahead of us) → die uns bevorstehende Aufgabe; to sail before the wind (Naut) → vor dem Wind segeln

(= in the presence of) → vor (+dat); he said it before us all → er sagte das vor uns allen; before God/a lawyer → vor Gott/einem Anwalt; to appear before a court/judge → vor Gericht/einem Richter erscheinen

(= rather than) death before surrender → eher or lieber tot als sich ergeben; he would die before betraying his country → er würde eher sterben als sein Land verraten

adv

(in time, = before that) → davor; (= at an earlier time, before now) → vorher; have you been to Scotland before? → waren Sie schon einmal in Schottland?; I have seen/read etc this before → ich habe das schon einmal gesehen/gelesen etc; never before → noch nie; (on) the evening/day before → am Abend/Tag davor or zuvor or vorher; (in) the month/year before → im Monat/Jahr davor; two hours before → zwei Stunden vorher; two days before → zwei Tage davor or zuvor; to continue as before (person) → (so) wie vorher weitermachen; things continued as before → alles war wie gehabt; life went on as before → das Leben ging seinen gewohnten Gang

(= ahead) to march on before → vorausmarschieren

(indicating order) → davor; that chapter and the one before → dieses Kapitel und das davor

conj

(in time) → bevor; before doing something → bevor man etw tut; you can’t go before this is done → du kannst erst gehen, wenn das gemacht ist; it will be six weeks before the boat comes again → das Boot wird erst in sechs Wochen wiederkommen; it will be a long time before he comes back → es wird lange dauern, bis er zurückkommt

(= rather than) he will die before he surrenders → eher will er sterben als sich geschlagen geben

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before [bɪˈfɔːʳ]

1. prep

a. (in time) → prima di
before 7 o'clock → prima delle 7
the day before last or yesterday → due giorni fa, l'altro ieri, ieri l'altro
before Christ → avanti Cristo
before long → fra poco, fra non molto

b. (in place, rank, in the presence of) → davanti a
a new life lay before him → una nuova vita si apriva davanti a lui
to appear before a judge → comparire davanti or dinanzi a un giudice
the question before us → la questione di cui ci dobbiamo occupare
before my very eyes → proprio sotto i miei occhi
ladies before gentlemen → prima le signore, la precedenza alle signore
to put friendship before money → anteporre l'amicizia all'interesse

2. adv → prima
the day before → il giorno prima or precedente
I have read it before → l'ho già letto
I've never seen it before → è la prima volta che lo vedo
the week before → la settimana prima
I knew long before that ... → sapevo da molto tempo che...

3. conj (time) → prima di + infin, prima che + sub; (rather than) → piuttosto che
before doing it you ..., before you do it, you ... → prima di farlo, tu..., prima che tu lo faccia, tu...
he will die before he betrays his friends → morirebbe piuttosto che tradire gli amici

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before [bɪˈfɔːʳ]

1. prep

a. (in time) → prima di
before 7 o'clock → prima delle 7
the day before last or yesterday → due giorni fa, l'altro ieri, ieri l'altro
before Christ → avanti Cristo
before long → fra poco, fra non molto

b. (in place, rank, in the presence of) → davanti a
a new life lay before him → una nuova vita si apriva davanti a lui
to appear before a judge → comparire davanti or dinanzi a un giudice
the question before us → la questione di cui ci dobbiamo occupare
before my very eyes → proprio sotto i miei occhi
ladies before gentlemen → prima le signore, la precedenza alle signore
to put friendship before money → anteporre l'amicizia all'interesse

2. adv → prima
the day before → il giorno prima or precedente
I have read it before → l'ho già letto
I've never seen it before → è la prima volta che lo vedo
the week before → la settimana prima
I knew long before that ... → sapevo da molto tempo che...

3. conj (time) → prima di + infin, prima che + sub; (rather than) → piuttosto che
before doing it you ..., before you do it, you ... → prima di farlo, tu..., prima che tu lo faccia, tu...
he will die before he betrays his friends → morirebbe piuttosto che tradire gli amici

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before

prep before [biˈfoː]

1 earlier than before the war; He'll come before very long. binnekort قَبْلَ преди před inden (be-)vor πριν, νωρίτερα από antes (de) enne پیش از؛ قبل ennen avant לִפְנֵי के आगे, के सामने prije előbb, előtt (időben) sebelum fyrir, áður prima, davanti ～より以前に …전에, 더 일찍 prieš drīz awal sebelum voor før, tidligere; om ikke lenge przed antes de înainte (de) до, перед pred pred pre före, inom kort ก่อน ...-den/dan önce, evvel 在...以前 перед, до پہلے ، پیشتر sớm hơn 在...以前

2 in front of She was before me in the queue. voor أمام пред před foran; før vor μπροστά από delante (de), antes (de/que) ees در جلو؛ در مقابل edessä avant, devant לִפְנֵי के पहले ispred előtt (térben) di muka á undan davanti ～の前方に …의 앞에 prieš, priešais priekšā; pa priekšu di depan voor foran przed à frente de în faţă, înaintea (...) перед, впереди pred pred ispred framför, före อยู่ข้างหน้า ...-in önünde 在...前面 перед سامنے đằng trước 在...前面

3 rather than Honour before wealth. voor قَبْلَ ، سابِق لِ пред před før vor παρά antes que parem ... kui ترجیح mieluummin avant וְלֹא के बजाय ispred inkább minthogy, előbb lebih baik á undan, fremur en prima di ～よりは …보다 중요하여 verčiau, negu drīzāk/ labāk ... nekā lebih daripada liever dan før, heller enn nad antes que înainte de скорее чем pred nad ispred hellre än มากกว่า ...-den önce/evvel, ...-den ise 與其...寧願 попереду سے بہتر hơn; thà... còn hơn 与其...（宁愿）

adv

earlier I've seen you before. tevore مِن قَبْل преди dříve før vorher πρωτύτερα, στο παρελθόν antes varem, enne زودتر؛ قبل از aiemmin déjà, auparavant לִפְנֵי כֵן, מִקוֹדֵם पहले prije, ranije korábban sebelumnya áður prima, già 以前に 전에 anksčiau agrāk; iepriekš sebelum ini eerder før, tidligere poprzednio antes (mai) înainte раньше, прежде predtým, skôr poprej ranije förut, tidigare ก่อนหน้านี้ daha önce 以前 раніше اس سے پہلے ، قبل ازیں trước đây 以前

conj

earlier than the time when Before I go, I must phone my parents. Voordat قَبْلَ أن преди dřív než inden bevor προτού antes (de que) enne kui پیش از؛ زودتر از ennen kuin avant (de/que) לִפְנֵי के पहले prije mielőtt sebelum áður en prima di ～より前に 이전에 prieš pirms; iekams sebelum voordat før (enn), innen zanim antes de înainte (de) прежде чем, до того как skôr ako preden pre nego innan ก่อนหน้านี้เมื่อ ...-den/dan önce, evvel 在...以前 перш ніж اس سے پہلےکہ trước khi 在...前

adv beˈforehand [-hand]

before the time when something else is done If you're coming, let me know beforehand. vooraf سَلَفا предварително předem på forhånd im voraus προκαταβολικά, εκ των προτέρων de antemano, previamente ette از قبل؛ جلوتر etukäteen d'avance מֵרֹאש पहले से prethodno előzőleg lebih dulu fyrir fram in anticipo あらかじめ …하기 앞서 iš anksto iepriekš awal-awal vantevoren på forhånd uprzednio de antemão dinainte заранее dopredu vnaprej unapred på förhand, i förväg ก่อนเวลา (daha)önceden, evvelden 預先 заздалегідь, наперед قبل از وقت trước 预先

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before → أمام, قبل أن dokud, před, předtím før bevor, davor, vor προ, προηγουμένως, προτού antes, antes de, antes de que aiemmin, ennen, ennen kuin avant, avant que ispred, prije, ranije prima ･･･する前に, ･･･の前に, 以前に ...전에, ...하기 전에, 앞에 voor, voordat, vroeger før, heller enn przed, wcześniej, zanim antes, antes que до того как, перед, прежде före, innan ก่อน, ก่อนที่ önce, önceden, önünde trước, trước khi 以前, 在...之前