before

antes

before(bi-for)

adverb

1. (previously)

a. antes

We've met before; you don't have to introduce him to me.

Nos conocemos de antes; no me lo tienes que presentar.

preposition

2. (preceding in time)

a. antes de

Always wash your hands before dinner.

Siempre debes lavarte las manos antes de cenar.

3. (in front of)

a. ante

I had never performed before such a large crowd.

Nunca había actuado ante una multitud tan grande.

b. delante de

They were married before a small gathering of friends and family.

Se casaron delante de un pequeño grupo de amigos y familia.

4. (in importance)

a. antes que

A poet is, before anything else, a person who is in love with language.

Un poeta es, antes que nada, una persona enamorada de los idiomas.

conjunction

5. (used to indicate time)

a. antes de que

Finish your homework before mom gets home.

Acaba tus deberes antes de que mamá llegue a casa.

6. (used to indicate preference)

a. antes que

I will die on my feet before living on my knees.

Moriré de pie antes que vivir de rodillas.

before

preposition

1. (with time)

a. antes de

before Christmasantes de Navidad

I got here before youhe llegado antes que tú

the day before the battlela víspera de la batalla

before that,…antes (de eso),…

2. (with place)

a. ante, delante de

before my very eyesante mis propios ojos

to appear before the judgecomparecer ante el juez

3. (in importance)

a.

she puts her family before everything elsesu familia es lo primero para ella

adverb

4. (with time)

a. antes

two days beforedos días antes

the day/year beforeel día/año anterior

I have seen him beforelo he visto antes

I've told you beforeya te lo he dicho (otras veces)

5. (in space)

a.

this page and the one beforeesta página y la anterior

conjunction

6. (general)

a. antes de que

come and see me before you leaveven a verme antes de marcharte

before I forget, will you…antes de que se me olvide, ¿podrías…?

give it to her before she criesdáselo antes de que empiece a llorar

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before [bɪˈfɔːʳ]

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

preposition

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 (m) 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 este antes que aquel; death before dishonour! ¡antes la muerte que el deshonor!

adverb

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

conjunction

(time) antes de que; (rather than) antes que;

TimeAdverb

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 etc before should usually be translated using el día/la noche/la semana etc 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

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

before