【before音标】 英[bɪˈfɔ:(r)] 美[bɪˈfɔ:r]
【单词释义】 before是什么意思：
prep.在…之前；先于，优于；当着…的面；与其…
conj.在…之前；在…以前；比…早些；与其…
adv.先前，从前；在前，在前方
[单词分级] 中考英语词汇
【常用短语】
before long 不久;很快
【近义词解析】
◇ 以前
ago (adv. 以前)：指从现在起往前推算一段时间，通常和一般过去时的动词连用。
before (adv. 先前，以前)：指过去某时间之前的时间或泛指以前，通常与动词的现在完成时连用，有时也可与动词的过去完成时或一般过去时连用，也可用于具体的一段时间；在间接引语中用 before 而不用 ago。
formerly ([六级]adv. 以前，从前)：泛指以前，有时常用于对比。He was formerly a worker, but now he is a manager of a shop.
previously ([六级]adv. 以前，先前)：与 before 用法相同，但更加正式。
【单词例句】
◇ "Once the clock strikes twelve the spell will be broken. Don't forget and come before then." As soon as Cinderella arrived at the ball everyone's eyes starred at her. "Ah! Who can that lovely girl be?" The prince asked Cinderella to dance. The two danced happily.
“一旦时钟指向十二点钟，这个魔法就会失效。别忘了，在那之前一定要赶回来，“灰姑娘一出现在舞池时，所有人都在盯着她。“天啊!那个漂亮的女孩是谁啊?”王子过来邀请灰姑娘跳舞。两个人忘情的跳起舞来。
---- Cinderella
◇ He did not know what the birds were or where’d they flew. But all the same, he was more drawn towards them than he had ever been by any creatures before.
他不知道那些鸟儿的名字，也不知道他们要飞去什么地方。不过他爱他们，好像他从来还没有爱过什么东西似的。
---- The Ugly Duckling
◇ Then the match went out, and there remained nothing but the thick, damp, cold wall before her.
就在这时，火柴熄灭了，留在她面前的，只是一堵又厚又冷的墙。
◇ 'I've never before seen a rabbit with either a pocket,or a watch to take out of it,'she thought.And she ran quickly across the field after the Rabbit.She did not stop to think, and when the Rabbit ran down a large rabbit-hole,Alice followed it immediately.
“我从未见过有口袋的兔子，或者兔子掏出一块手表来。”她想。她跟在兔子后面很快跑过田野。她也没停下来想一想，当兔子跑进一个大的兔子洞时，爱丽丝立即跟了进去。
---- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1)
◇ Brushing your teeth should always happen last thing before bed.
刷牙永远应该是睡觉前做的最后一件事。
---- How to properly brush your teeth
◇ He glanced, with a very critical eye, at all the flower-beds, and found that the flowers were seated quietly and demurely on their stalks, just as maidens should sit before they are engaged; but there was a great number of them, and it appeared as if his search would become very wearisome.
因此他就把她们都看了一遍。每朵花都是安静地、端庄地坐在梗子上，正如一个姑娘在没有订婚时那样坐着。可是她们的数目非常多，选择很不容易。
---- The Butterfly
◇ "These coffins," she said, "were intended for your brothers, but they secretly ran away before you were born," and she told her how everything had happened.
她说：“这些棺材是为你的哥哥们准备的，但他们在你出世前偷偷逃跑了。”王后把事情的的经过原原本本地告诉了小姑娘。
---- The Twelve Brothers
◇ Then it happened one day while the queen was sitting in her bath, that a frog crept out of the water onto the ground and said to her, "Your wish shall be fulfilled, and before a year passes you will bring a daughter into the world."
有一天，王后正在河边散步，一只青蛙把头浮出水面对她说：“你的愿望就会实现了，不久你就会生下一个女儿的。”
---- Little Brier-Rose
◇ Merely 2 weeks later, the clones and their carrier died, which struck frustration into his heart. He retired before he attained his ambition and became a member of an opera chorus to relieve his depression.
仅仅过了2个星期，克隆体和母体都死亡了，这使他内心里充满了挫折，他也因此在达到自己目标前就退休了，并选择加入歌剧合唱团来减轻消沉的感觉。
◇ Before long, he started his own bakery and lived a better life.
不久，他就开了自己的面包店，过上了稍好一点的生活。
---- Immigrate to America