BEFORE – English Grammar Profiler

The word “before” can function as a preposition, a subordinating conjunction, and a time adverb. Let’s look at each of these in turn:

  1. Before as a Preposition: When “before” is used as a preposition, it connects a noun or pronoun to another word in the sentence to show time, place, or logic. It indicates that something happens earlier than the time or event mentioned.Examples:
    • “The treaty was signed before the war.” (time)
    • “She always does her homework before getting home.” (time)
    • “He always brushes his teeth before dinner.” (time)
    • “We had been friends for years before our meeting in person.” (time)
    • “It’s dangerous to go out in the wilderness before dark.” (time)
  2. Before as a Subordinating Conjunction: When “before” is used as a subordinating conjunction, it connects two clauses in a sentence, showing a relationship between them. The clause beginning with “before” is the subordinate clause, which provides necessary context to the main clause.Examples:
    • “Make sure you pack your bags before you leave for the trip.” (time)
    • “I had already finished my homework before she came home.” (time)
    • “You should probably eat something before it gets too late.” (time)
    • “They had been dating for five years before they got married.” (time)
    • “We need to do a final review before we begin the project.” (time)
  3. Before as a Time Adverb: When “before” is used as an adverb, it modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb to indicate when something happens. It’s often used at the end of a sentence.Examples:
    • “We should be proud of Dad, now more than ever before.”
    • “I had seen that movie once before.”
    • “She had visited that place before.”

In all these uses, “before” indicates an earlier time. However, its grammatical function changes depending on whether it’s used as a preposition, conjunction, or adverb.

In the  iWeb corpus, ‘before’ is tagged in 3 ways.

1 BEFORE (II) 3240842

Collocates of ‘before’ as a preposition in the MOVIE corpus:

1 LONG 1450
2 EYES 633

They say 

your whole life flashes before your eyes 

when you die.

listen

‘before your eyes’ = you see your life in front of you.

You eat with your eyes before your mouth.

reddit.com

‘before your mouth’ is more of an adverbial phrase of time.  Meaning: first we eat by looking at it, then, we eat with our mouths.

3 DAYS 614

When Grandpa gets here, 

we‘ll have the tree to put up and decorate 

and there are only two days left before Christmas.

listen

4 WAR 516 5 GETS 510 6 MINUTES 491 7 COMES 463 8 CHRISTMAS 456 9 DINNER 416 10 HOURS 398 11 MET 369 12 DAWN 364 13 WEDDING 357 14 DARK 353 15 WEEK 351 16 WEEKS 336 17 DIED 324 18 DEATH 314 19 HOUR 280

20 COURT 263

We had AI write examples with the collocates above:

  1. The treaty was signed before the war.
  2. She always does her homework before getting home.
  3. Please finish the report 30 minutes before the meeting.
  4. He always brushes his teeth before dinner.
  5. The city is beautifully decorated before every Christmas.
  6. We usually have a walk before our dinner.
  7. I finished the project 10 hours before the deadline.
  8. We had been friends for years before our meeting in person.
  9. The birds start chirping before the dawn.
  10. She was very nervous before her wedding day.
  11. It’s dangerous to go out in the wilderness before dark.
  12. I need to finish this task a week before the deadline.
  13. He completed his assignment two weeks before the submission date.
  14. She visited her grandmother before her grandmother’s death.
  15. He confessed his crimes before his death.
  16. I’ll finish this book an hour before bedtime.
  17. He prepared his statement thoroughly before his court appearance.

2 BEFORE (CS) 2449322

Collocates as a subordinating conjunction in the MOVIE corpus show that the past simple is very common and this is B2 in the EGP.  Otherwise ‘before’ as a conjunction is listed at B1.

1 LONG 1667

long before = C2 a long period of time before something

He had the chance to read it all 

long before he died.

TED

How long were you into the process 

before you saw this?

TED

2 LEAVE 1575 3 LEFT 1564 4 DIED 1461 5 CAME 1443 6 GETS 1419 7 START 1167 8 WENT 1150 9 LATE 1014 10 DIE 1009 11 KNEW 968 12 MET 930 13 BORN 787 14 STARTED 787 15 MARRIED 687 16 CATCH 330 17 BEGIN 317 18 YESTERDAY 290 19 FINISH 268

20 BECAME 256

  1. Make sure you pack your bags before you leave for the trip.
  2. She had already locked the doors before she left the house.
  3. He managed to say his last words before he died.
  4. I had already finished my homework before she came home.
  5. You should probably eat something before it gets too late.
  6. We need to do a sound check before we start the concert.
  7. She had already put on her shoes before she went out.
  8. Make sure to finish your work before it’s too late.
  9. He wanted to say goodbye to everyone before he died.
  10. I had already known about the surprise party before I knew about the guests.
  11. We had been friends online for years before we met in person.
  12. The legend of the hero was well-known before he was born.
  13. They had already set up the stage before they started the concert.
  14. They had been dating for five years before they got married.
  15. You should probably leave early before you catch the rush hour traffic.
  16. We need to do a final review before we begin the project.
  17. I had already finished my work before you began yours.
  18. Make sure to proofread your essay before you finish your submission.
  19. He was just a normal guy before he became a famous actor.

3 BEFORE (RT) 1195294 A2

As a time adverb, it is usually followed by punctuation such as a full stop to end the sentence.

1 EVER BEFORE. 46488

We should be proud of Dad, now more than ever before.

listen

2 THAN BEFORE. 26632 3 SAID BEFORE, 22888 4 SEEN BEFORE. 21207 5 AS BEFORE, 19026 6 AS BEFORE. 17695 7 MENTIONED BEFORE, 17535 8 IT BEFORE. 16164 9 EVER BEFORE, 16051 10 IT BEFORE, 14964 11 THIS BEFORE, 13558 12 NIGHT BEFORE. 13240 13 NEVER BEFORE. 12573 14 THIS BEFORE. 12411 15 DONE BEFORE. 10762 16 DAY BEFORE. 10326 17 NIGHT BEFORE, 10288 18 YEAR BEFORE. 10177 19 THAN BEFORE, 9195 20 HAD BEFORE. 8513 21 SEEN BEFORE, 8195

22 DAY BEFORE, 8106

Here are sentences using ‘before’ as a time adverb with the provided collocates:

  1. The garden looks more beautiful than before.
  2. As I said before, we need to be careful with our budget.
  3. This is a species of bird I’ve never seen before.
  4. The procedure will be the same as before.
  5. She performed the task just as before.
  6. This issue has been mentioned before in our meetings.
  7. I’ve never thought about it before.
  8. The company is growing faster than ever before.
  9. I’ve never seen it before in my life.
  10. Have you encountered this before in your studies?
  11. He was very tired the night before.
  12. I’ve never before seen such a beautiful sunset.
  13. I’ve never experienced anything like this before.
  14. This task has been done before by our team.
  15. She was very nervous the day before her interview.
  16. He couldn’t sleep the night before the big game.
  17. The city was very different a year before.
  18. The room looks cleaner than before.
  19. She had more responsibilities than she had before.
  20. This is a painting technique I’ve never seen before.
  21. He arrived a day before to prepare for the meeting.

23 THAT BEFORE. 7962 24 YEARS BEFORE. 7250 25 TIMES BEFORE, 7155 26 WAS BEFORE. 6903 27 DID BEFORE. 6438 28 NEVER BEFORE SEEN 6318 29 YEAR BEFORE, 6203 30 . BEFORE, 6126 31 TIMES BEFORE. 6066 32 YEARS BEFORE, 5896 33 DONE BEFORE, 5895 34 IT BEFORE AND 5743 35 THE BEFORE AND 4989 36 . BEFORE THAT 4927 37 THIS BEFORE AND 4887 38 THEM BEFORE. 4600 39 THERE BEFORE. 4473 40 BEEN BEFORE. 4255 41 THIS BEFORE ? 4160 42 HEARD BEFORE. 4045 43 THAT BEFORE, 4004 44 STATED BEFORE, 3978 45 OF BEFORE. 3912 46 ONE BEFORE. 3803 47 HAPPENED BEFORE. 3550 48 EXPERIENCED BEFORE. 3447 49 NEVER BEFORE BEEN 3437 50 HAVE BEFORE. 3410 51 HERE BEFORE, 3390 52 WERE BEFORE. 3384 53 NEVER BEFORE, 3378 54 NEVER BEFORE HAS 3339 55 THEM BEFORE, 3294 56 HAD BEFORE, 3229 57 ONCE BEFORE, 3072 58 GONE BEFORE. 3013 59 SEEN BEFORE IN 2886 60 USED BEFORE. 2877 61 HERE BEFORE. 2862 62 WEEK BEFORE. 2842 63 DID BEFORE, 2789 64 LIKE BEFORE. 2760 65 AND BEFORE THAT 2717 66 DAYS BEFORE. 2701 67 DAYS BEFORE, 2677 68 ” BEFORE, 2634 69 WAS BEFORE, 2626 70 NEVER BEFORE HAVE 2623 71 LIKE BEFORE, 2599 72 THIS BEFORE BUT 2575 73 TO BEFORE. 2572 74 ONE BEFORE, 2550 75 NOT BEFORE. 2526 76 IT BEFORE BUT 2475 77 EVER BEFORE TO 2470 78 THERE BEFORE, 2455 79 WEEK BEFORE, 2348 80 MENTIONED BEFORE. 2308 81 NOT BEFORE THE 2293 82 ME BEFORE. 2267 83 A BEFORE AND 2164 84 BEFORE : 2132 85 EVER BEFORE ! 2128 86 TRIED BEFORE. 2097 87 YOU BEFORE, 2077 88 HAPPENED BEFORE, 2044 89 ABOUT BEFORE. 2007 90 BEEN BEFORE, 2003 91 NEVER BEFORE HAD 1977 92 EVER BEFORE IN 1913 93 HEARD BEFORE, 1902 94 ONCE BEFORE. 1893 95 AS BEFORE AND 1862 96 CAME BEFORE. 1841 97 NEVER BEFORE IN 1837 98 USED BEFORE, 1816 99 , BEFORE, 1809

100 HIM BEFORE. 1794