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Then vs Before - What's the difference?

then | before |

As adverbs the difference between then and before

is that then is at that time while before is at an earlier time.

As conjunctions the difference between then and before

is that then is obsolete spelling of lang=en while before is in advance of the time when.

As an adjective then

is being so at that time.

As a noun then

is that time.

As a preposition before is

earlier than (in time).

then

English

Adverb

(-)
  • (label) At that time.
  • :
  • *Bible, (w) xii. 6
  • *:And the Canaanite was then in the land.
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 , passage=In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned. But he had then none of the oddities and mannerisms which I hold to be inseparable from genius, and which struck my attention in after days when I came in contact with the Celebrity.}}
  • (label) Soon afterward.
  • :
  • :
  • *Bible, (w) v. 24
  • *:First be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
  • *
    • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=Then' there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester same as you don't get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand. We spent consider'ble money getting 'em reset, and ' then a swordfish got into the pound and tore the nets all to slathers, right in the middle of the squiteague season.}}
  • (label) Next in order; in addition.
  • :
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps, with something of the stately pose which Richter has given his Queen Louise on the stairway, and the light of the reflector fell full upon her.}}
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=(Peter Wilby)
    • , volume=189, issue=6, page=30, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Finland spreads word on schools , passage=Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then , without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16. Charging school fees is illegal, and so is sorting pupils into ability groups by streaming or setting.}}
  • (label) In that case.
  • :
  • :
  • :
  • (label) At the same time; on the other hand.
  • :
  • (label) At the time that; when.
  • *1485 , Sir (Thomas Malory), (w, Le Morte d'Arthur)'', Book I.23, reprinted 1817, Sir Thomas Malory, (William Caxton), ''Morte d'Arthur: The Byrth, Lyf, and Actes of Kyng Arthur , Volume 1, page 37:
  • *:Than the knyght sawe hym lye soo on the ground, he alyght and was passynge heuy, for he wende he had slayne hym.
  • Used to contradict an assertion.
  • *2001 , (Eric Malpass), At the Height of the Moon , page 28,
  • *:‘She says Indian elephants are tidgy little things.’ ¶ ‘They?re not then .’ Emma was getting heated. ‘They?re –’ ¶ ‘Emma!’ said Jenny sharply. The child subsided.

    • Synonyms

    * (soon afterward) and then, and so, subsequently, so * (next in order) and then

    Adjective

    (-)
  • being so at that time

    • See also

    * by then * just then * now and then * there and then * until then

    Noun

    (head)
  • That time
    • It will be finished before then .

    Conjunction

    (head)

    • Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    *

    References

    * 100 English basic words English conjunctive adverbs English demonstrative adverbs English sequence adverbs English temporal location adverbs 1000 English basic words

    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