before
part of speech
preposition (before lunch); adverb (I have seen it before); conjunction (before you go)
meaning for a pupil
1) Before means earlier than something else: before lunch. tree →
2) Before means at an earlier time, in the past: I have been here before. tree →
3) Before can mean in front of: the number before 10 is 9; she stood before the class. tree →
4) (casual) «Before you know it» means very soon; «before long» means soon. tree →
5) (rough) «Before I …» in a threat warns of what will happen: «Get out before I lose my temper.» tree →
6) (formal) The exam voice says «prior to», «previously», «antecedent to», «in advance of», «hitherto», «preceding». tree →
sense in the lessons
earlier lessons, or the amount before a change («Before lunch Jake had 15 marbles»); in counting «the number before 10» is one less (9); in safety «look before you cross», «ask before you touch», «think before you post»; in everyday life «the day before», «before bed», «before long»; in rough talk a threat «before I count to three»; in the exam voice «prior to», «previously», «the preceding integer»
examples
- First, a little revision of what we learned before: Adding within 20. tree →
- Test: 60 of 60 right (before the lesson: 0 of 60). tree →
- Before lunch Jake had 15 marbles. tree →
- Ann had 8 coins before she found 4 more. tree →
- Wash your hands before you eat. tree →
- What number comes before 20? tree →
- I have never seen a whale before. tree →
- Brush your teeth before bed. tree →
- You'll be grown up before you know it. tree →
- put it back before mum sees, she'll kill us tree →
- Get off my bike before I count to three! tree →
- Prior to the transaction, Jake was in possession of 15 marbles; state the integer immediately preceding 15. tree →
- "I have never seen you before." tree →
note
Points to the starting amount or an earlier time; no operation clue by itself. Trap: «how many did she have before» asks for the start, so you may need to undo the change. «The number before N» or «the integer preceding N» is N − 1. Opposite: after. «prior to» and «previously» in an exam mean «before». «she'll kill us» in casual talk means she will be very cross; it is not a real threat.
In the corpora
- Job hunting means searching adverts and sending applications, often dozens before getting anywhere; many get no reply at all.
- Payday is the day pay arrives in the bank, often once a month, so money is usually lowest just before it.
- Many people are paid early in December, before Christmas, so January feels very long with the money already spent.
- When a woman is pregnant, a baby grows inside her womb for about nine months before it is born.
- Many parents wait about three months before telling people, because the early weeks are the most uncertain.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «before» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.