Before vs Til - What's the difference?

before | til |

As a preposition before

is earlier than (in time).

As an adverb before

is at an earlier time.

As a conjunction before

is in advance of the time when.

As an initialism til is

(internet slang) today i learned.

before

English

Preposition

(English prepositions)

Earlier than (in time).

* (Jonathan Swift) (1667–1745)

Before this treatise can become of use, two points are necessary.

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=We made an odd party before the arrival of the Ten, particularly when the Celebrity dropped in for lunch or dinner.}}

* {{quote-news, year=2011, date=November 11, author=Rory Houston, work=RTE Sport

, title= Estonia 0-4 Republic of Ireland , passage=Stephen Ward then had to time his tackle excellently to deny Tarmo Kink as the Wolves winger slid the ball out of play before the Estonian could attempt to beat Given.}}

In front of in space.

* (John Milton) (1608-1674)

His angel, who shall go / Before them in a cloud and pillar of fire.

He tried to persuade Cicely to stay away from the ball-room for a fourth dance.she found her mother standing up before the seat on which she had sat all the evening searching anxiously for her with her eyes, and her father by her side.

* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author=(Henry Petroski)

, magazine=(American Scientist), title= The Evolution of Eyeglasses , passage=The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone, essentially what today we might term a frameless magnifying glass or plain glass paperweight.}}

Under consideration, judgment, authority of (someone).

* (John Ayliffe) (1676-1732)

If a suit be begun before an archdeacon

In store for, in the future of (someone).

* (Thomas Carlyle) (1795-1881)

The golden ageis before us.

In front of, according to a formal system of ordering items.

At a higher or greater position in a ranking.

* (Bible), (w) i. 15

He that cometh after me is preferred before me.

* (Samuel Johnson) (1709-1784)

The eldest son is before the younger in succession.

Synonyms

* (earlier than in time) by, no later than * (in front of in space) ahead of, in front of * (in front of according to an ordering system) ahead of

Antonyms

* (earlier than in time) after, later than * (in front of in space) behind * (in front of according to an ordering system) after

Adverb

(-)

At an earlier time.

* , chapter=12

, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=All this was extraordinarily distasteful to Churchill. It was ugly, gross. Never before had he felt such repulsion when the vicar displayed his characteristic bluntness or coarseness of speech. In the present connexion—or rather as a transition from the subject that started their conversation—such talk had been distressingly out of place.}}

In advance.

At the front end.

* 1896 , (Hilaire Belloc), The Bad Child’s Book of Beasts , :

When people call this beast to mind,
They marvel more and more
At such a (little) tail behind,
So LARGE a trunk before .

Synonyms

* (at an earlier time) previously * (in advance) ahead * (at the front end) in front

Antonyms

* (at an earlier time) after * (at the front end) behind

Derived terms

* beforehand * beforetime

Conjunction

(English Conjunctions)

in advance of the time when

(informal) rather or sooner than

Synonyms

* (rather than) lest

References

* Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "Spatial particles of orientation", in The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition , Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8

Statistics

* English locatives English sequence adverbs 1000 English basic words

til

English

Alternative forms

* 'til

Conjunction

(English Conjunctions)

(nonstandard) until, till

{{quote-magazine

, date= , year=c1390 , month= , first=Geoffry , last=Chaucer , author= , coauthors= , title=The Canterbury Tales , passage=He slepeth...Al nyght til the sonne gan aryse. }}

{{quote-magazine

, date= , year=2010 , month=May , first=James , last=Parker , author= , coauthors= , title=Revenge of the Wimps , volume=305 , issue=4 , page=38 , magazine=The Atlantic Monthly , publisher= , issn= citation , passage=EVEN IF YOU MAKE ME WRITE IN THIS EVERY DAY TIL THEY LET ME OUT OF HERE }}

Preposition

(English prepositions)

(nonstandard) until, till

{{quote-book

, year=1425 , year_published= , edition= , editor= , author=Wycliffe , title=Wycliffe Bible , chapter=Ezekial 1:27 , url= , genre= , publisher= , isbn= , page= , passage=Fro þe leendis]] of hym & aboue, & fro þe [[lende, leendis of him til beneþe I sa? þe licnesse of fier.}}

{{quote-magazine

, date= , year=2004 , month=Nov , first= , last= , author= , coauthors=Harper, Gary W. / Gannon, Christine / Watson, Susan E. / Catania, Joseph A. / Dolcini, M. Margaret , title=The Role of Close Friends in African American Adolescents' Dating and Sexual Behavior , volume=41 , issue=4 , page=351-362 , magazine=Journal of Sex Research , publisher= , issn= , url= , passage=I just don't know how to just come out in the blue and say it, so I just wait til it comes up... }}

{{quote-magazine

, date=Winter , year=2008 , month= , first=Michael , last=Copperman , author= , coauthors= , title=Gone , volume=39 , issue=3 , page=139-145 , magazine=Arkansas Review , publisher=Arkansas State University , issn= , url= , passage=Let him wander round and kids gone meddle him til he get to fighting again. }}

(archaic) ~ to : as far as; down to; up to, until

{{quote-book

, year=1425 , year_published= , edition= , editor= , author=Wycliffe , title=Wycliffe Bible , chapter=Ezekial 40:15 , url= , genre= , publisher= , isbn= , page= , passage=He maad frountis by sixti cubitis ... and bifore the face of the ?ate that lastid til to the face of the porche of the ynner ?ate, fifti cubitis.}}

Anagrams

* English three-letter words ----