Is Before An Adverb: 7 Important Facts You Should Know

Is before an adverb?’, this article will address this question with the aid of various examples, explanations and several important facts that you need to know about ‘before’ and adverbs.

An adverb is one of the parts of speech in the English Language, whose function is to describe and modify the action words (verbs), adjectives and the other adverbs that are present in a sentence. We will be seeing if ‘before’ can be an adverb.

Given below are a few sentences where the word ‘before’ is used adverbs.

  • 1. I have listened to this song so many times before.
  • 2. My mother has visited Taj Mahal before.
  • 3. We have learnt this lesson even before.
  • 4. The company has not faced such an issue before.
  • 5. Preetam was sure about seeing Ruhi somewhere before.

Now we will analyze each and every sentence in detail and get to know what the word ‘before’ conveys.

1. I have listened to this song so many times before.

In this sentence the word ‘before’ is used as an adverb because it is describing the verb ‘listened’ by telling us more information about when the person has listened to this song.

2. My mother has visited Taj Mahal before.

In this sentence the word ‘before’ is utilized as an adverb because it is describing the verb ‘visited’ by telling us more information about when my mother has visited the Taj Mahal.

3. We have learnt this lesson even before.

In this sentence the word ‘before’ is used as an adverb as it is describing the verb ‘learnt’ by telling us additional information about when we have learnt this lesson.

4. The company has not faced such an issue before.

In this sentence the word ‘before’ is utilized as an adverb because it is describing the action word ‘has not faced’ by telling us more information about when the company has not faced such an issue.

5. Preetam was sure about seeing Ruhi somewhere before.

In this sentence the word ‘before’ is utilized as an adverb because it is describing the verb ‘seeing’ by telling us more information about when Preetam has seen Ruhi.

Why is before an adverb?

The word ‘before’ is an adverb as it helps in giving more information about the verbs in a sentence by modifying them and describing them. The adverb ‘before’ tells us additional information that the action (verb) has taken place sometime earlier or anytime in the past.

Example: The baby was quite fine and healthy the week before.

In the above sentence, the word ‘before’ is functioning as an adverb as it is describing the action word (verb) ‘was fine’. The word ‘before’ is describing the verb ‘was fine’ by giving us the extra information about when the baby was fine. ‘Before’ here refers to the time ‘the previous week or the last week’.

Example: The manager has seen your cousin before, but has not spoken to her.

The word ‘before’ is an adverb in this sentence because it is giving us extra information (describing) about the action word (verb) ‘have seen’. ‘Before’ here tells us more about the verb ‘have seen’ by answering to the question ‘when has the manager seen your cousin?’. The answer that we get to this question is ‘before’.

is before  an adverb
Is Before An Adverb Examples

How is before an adverb?

‘Before’ is an adverb as it performs the function of making us know additional information about the action words by telling us when the action has taken place. ‘Before’ refers to a time in the past. It can refer to a particular day, week, month or year in the past or to some unspecific time in the past.

Example: They visited us the year before when they came to India.

‘Before’ is the adverb which is utilized in this sentence as it is telling us more information about the verb ‘visited’ by telling us when they visited us. ‘Before’ here answers to the question ‘when did they visit us’ and it refers to a particular year which is the previous year.

Example: This is an ice cream flavor which I have not tasted before.

The word ‘before’ is an adverb in this sentence because it is giving us extra additional information (describing) about the action word (verb) ‘have not tasted’. ‘Before’ here tells us more about the verb ‘have not tasted’ by answering to the question ‘when have I not tasted this ice cream flavor?’. The answer that we get to this question is ‘before’ and it refers to some unspecific time in the past.

Thus, the word ‘before’ becomes an adverb when it is telling about the time in which the action (verb) has taken place.

When is before an adverb?

The word ‘before’ in general can function as three parts of speech namely adverbs, prepositions and conjunctions. Based on when, why, how and where ‘before’ is used, it’s function varies.

When the word ‘before’ is in front of a noun, that is, when it precedes a noun, then it is a preposition.

Example: Let us not worry, Ramya will be here before dinner.

In this sentence, the word ‘before’ is a preposition as it is placed in front of the noun ‘dinner’ and showing the relation between the word and the other parts of the sentence.

When the word ‘before’ is used to connect two or more clauses, then, it is a conjunctions as it does the role of joining and connecting.

Example: You are requested to meet the principal before you attend my class tomorrow.

‘You are requested to meet the principal’ and ‘you attend my class tomorrow’ are the two clauses in this sentence. ‘Before’ is here used as a conjunction in the above sentence as it is joining the two clauses.

‘Before’ is an adverb when it is denoting anytime in the past, anytime before the present moment when the action took place.

Example: This project was submitted by you long before.

In this sentence, ‘before’ is utilized here as an adverb by describing the verb ‘was submitted’ as it tells us when the project was submitted. ‘Before’ here indicates to an unspecified time in the past when the submission of the project was done.

What is the type of adverb before?

‘Before’ is an adverb of time because it tells us about sometime in the past when the action has taken place.

Example: This place looked so different before.

‘Before’ is the adverb in this sentence and to be more specific it is an adverb of time because it is referring to a time in the past when the place looked so different. Thus, the adverb ‘before’ is describing the verb ‘looked’.

Examples of before as an adverb

Go through the following example sentences where the word ‘before’ is utilized as adverb.

  • 1. Suchitha has been to this restaurant many times before.
  • 2. The mishap happened right at this place the night before.
  • 3. My friends and I have watched this movie many times before as it is our favorite movie.
  • 4. We have drunk juice from this shop long time before.
  • 5. My mother has seen you before but she does not remember when.

Examples of before as an adverb with detailed explanations

Here, we will be understanding and analyzing why the word ‘before’ is an adverb in each of the above sentences.

1. Suchitha has been to this restaurant many times before.

The word ‘before’ utilized here in this sentence is an adverb as it is telling us ‘when Suchitha has been to this restaurant’ by describing the action word (verb) ‘has been’.

2. The mishap happened right at this place the night before.

The word ‘before’ utilized here in this sentence is an adverb as it is telling us ‘when the mishap has happened at this place’ (last night or the previous night) by describing the action word (verb) ‘happened’.

3. My friends and I have watched this movie many times before as it is our favorite movie.

The word ‘before’ utilized here in the above sentence is an adverb as it is telling us the answer to the question ‘when my friends and I have watched this movies many times’ by modifying the action word (verb) ‘have watched’.

4. We have drunk juice from this shop long time before.

The word ‘before’ utilized here in this sentence is an adverb as it is giving us the answer to the question ‘when have we drunk juice from this shop’ by describing the action word (verb) ‘have drunk’.

5. My mother has seen you before but she does not remember when.

The word ‘before’ utilized here in this sentence is an adverb as it is telling us the answer to the question ‘when has my mother seen you’ by describing the action word (verb) ‘has seen’.

Can before be an adjective?

No, ‘before’ cannot be an adjective as it does not tell us extra information (does not describe) about the nouns or pronouns.

Example: Mark attended the class before.

In this sentence, the nouns are ‘Mark’ and ‘class’. The word ‘before’ does not give us any additional information about both the nouns in the sentence. ‘Before’ only tells us when Mark attended the class by modifying the action word (verb) ‘attended’. Hence, ‘before’ here is only an adverb and not an adjective.

Conclusion

From the article, we got to know that ‘before’ is word which can be definitely be used as an adverb. But don’t be confused as ‘before’ can also be utilized as a preposition and as a conjunction when it is used in front of a noun and when it connects two clauses respectively.