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
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 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.
PrepositionWhen 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
ConjunctionWhen 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
