Antes (en. Before)

/ˈantes/

Meaning & Definition

EnglishSpanish

adverb

It is used to indicate an earlier time with respect to another.

Before going to the movies, we had dinner at a restaurant.

Antes de ir al cine, cenamos en un restaurante.

To indicate a preference for something or someone.

I would prefer coffee over tea before.

Yo antes preferiría un café que un té.

It is used to make temporal comparisons.

I used to live in Madrid, now in Barcelona.

Antes vivía en Madrid, ahora en Barcelona.

It comes from the Latin 'ante', which means 'before' or 'prior to'.

before

Indicates a moment prior to another event or situation.

antes de que

before everything

Expresses the priority or importance of something over the rest.

antes de todo

better late than never

Even if time has passed, it is better to do something than to do nothing.

más vale tarde que nunca

That which occurs or is found in a previous time.

That which is earlier in time or order.

previo

preliminary

That which serves as a preliminary step to something.

preliminar

Sooner

I told you before, don't forget it.

Te lo dije antes, no lo olvides.

A while ago

We talked about that before.

Hablamos antes sobre eso.