How to Spell Before — a Quick Spelling Guide

In English, spelling problems may occasionally occur. English borrowed many words from other languages without any limitations.

Over 60% of its vocabulary is retained in French, Latin, and Greek, which is a Germanic language. The same sound can be pronounced in several ways. Additionally, there has never been a concentrated effort to standardize and streamline spelling.

There is a strong international presence of the language, and it is also widely spoken among former colonies. This combination of factors could create a messy situation, at least spelling-wise.

That’s why we decided to dedicate today’s article to the word before. We will take a look at what this word means and its origins. We are also going to answer the question of how to spell before to help you in your future writing.

So, without further ado, let’s get started.

The Dictionary Definition of Before

brown wooden blocks that read mend the roof before it rains on white surface.
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

We use before as an adverb or an adjective. It is the antonym (has the opposite meaning) of after. The meaning of the word is as follows:

  • Ahead, or in advance.
  • In front of, forward of something.
  • In the jurisdiction or consideration of.
  • A time that is earlier than now or the indicated time.
  • Until the time that something happens.
  • Putting something in a higher or more important position than another.

As always, just going by the definition will not be much help to us. The best way to understand the correct use of the word will be by looking at some example sentences. And that’s why we prepared the examples below to help you out.

Example Sentences Using The Word Before

  • There is this rule that goes the letter I before E except C to make spelling easier for children. This rule has so many exceptions in spelling that you can’t call it a rule!
  • You have to come before my brother arrives.
  • Common sense dictates that you should look both ways before crossing the street.
  • Did we spell words correctly before the Great Vowel Shift? Nobody knows.
  • Good Lord, they came way before us!
  • I am having trouble with the spelling of the word before!
  • Before the Norman invasion, the spelling of most words was very different.
  • Come on, spell it out before I get angrier.
  • Before domestication, dogs were just like wolves and coyotes.
  • You are going to have to testify before the court.

Now that we have an idea of the utilization of this word, let’s take a look at the question of how to spell before!

How to Spell Before?

Before is one of the words that are misspelled frequently, especially by students that are just beginning to learn the language. Common misspellings include:

  • befour
  • befor
  • b4 (this is slang; nevertheless, it is still incorrect.)

The correct way of spelling the word is: before

The phonetic transcription of its pronunciation is bi-fOR.

Conclusion

Spelling the word “before” is a simple task. Once you master this skill, you can use the word in a sentence without spelling!

Pam is an expert grammarian with years of experience teaching English, writing and ESL Grammar courses at the university level. She is enamored with all things language and fascinated with how we use words to shape our world.

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