how to pronounce before

/bɪˈfɔːɹ/

audio example by a male speaker

audio example by a female speaker

the above transcription of before is a detailed (narrow) transcription according to the rules of the International Phonetic Association; you can find a description of each symbol by clicking the phoneme buttons in the secction below.

before is pronounced in two syllables

press buttons with phonetic symbols to learn how to precisely pronounce each sound of before

1.

2.

ɔː

example pitch curve for pronunciation of before

test your pronunciation of before

press the "test" button to check how closely you can replicate the pitch of a native speaker in your pronunciation of before

video examples of before pronunciation

An example use of before in a speech by a native speaker of american english:

“… as i've told you before i carry a card …”

meanings of before

preposition:

Earlier than (in time).
In front of, according to a formal system of ordering items.
In the presence of.
Under consideration, judgment, authority of (someone).
In front of in space.
At a higher or greater position than, in a ranking.
In store for, in the future of (someone).

adverb:

At the front end.
In advance.
At an earlier time.

conjunction:

Rather or sooner than.
In advance of the time when.

before frequency in english - A1 level of CEFR

the word before occurs in english on average 968.3 times per one million words; this frequency warrants it to be in the study list for A1 level of language mastery according to CEFR, the Common European Framework of Reference.

topics before can be related to

it is hard to perfectly classify words into specific topics since each word can have many context of its use, but our machine-learning models believe that before can be often used in the following areas:

1) communication, information, and media;

2) people, society, and culture;