Before in Different Languages
Discover 'Before' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Before
Afrikaans voorheen | ||
Albanian para | ||
Amharic ከዚህ በፊት | ||
Arabic قبل | ||
Armenian նախքան | ||
Assamese আগতে | ||
Aymara nayrja | ||
Azerbaijani əvvəl | ||
Bambara fɔlɔ | ||
Basque aurretik | ||
Belarusian раней | ||
Bengali আগে | ||
Bhojpuri पहिले | ||
Bosnian prije | ||
Bulgarian преди | ||
Catalan abans | ||
Cebuano kaniadto | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 之前 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 之前 | ||
Corsican prima | ||
Croatian prije | ||
Czech před | ||
Danish før | ||
Dhivehi ކުރިން | ||
Dogri पैहलें | ||
Dutch voordat | ||
English before | ||
Esperanto antaŭe | ||
Estonian enne | ||
Ewe do ŋgɔ | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) dati | ||
Finnish ennen | ||
French avant | ||
Frisian foar | ||
Galician antes | ||
Georgian მანამდე | ||
German vor | ||
Greek πριν | ||
Guarani mboyve | ||
Gujarati પહેલાં | ||
Haitian Creole anvan | ||
Hausa kafin | ||
Hawaiian ma mua | ||
Hebrew לפני | ||
Hindi इससे पहले | ||
Hmong ua ntej | ||
Hungarian előtt | ||
Icelandic áður | ||
Igbo tupu | ||
Ilocano sakbay | ||
Indonesian sebelum | ||
Irish roimh | ||
Italian prima | ||
Japanese 前 | ||
Javanese sadurunge | ||
Kannada ಮೊದಲು | ||
Kazakh бұрын | ||
Khmer មុន | ||
Kinyarwanda mbere | ||
Konkani आदीं | ||
Korean 전에 | ||
Krio bifo | ||
Kurdish berî | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) پێش | ||
Kyrgyz чейин | ||
Lao ກ່ອນ | ||
Latin ante | ||
Latvian pirms | ||
Lingala liboso | ||
Lithuanian prieš | ||
Luganda mu kusooka | ||
Luxembourgish virun | ||
Macedonian порано | ||
Maithili पहिने | ||
Malagasy alohan'ny | ||
Malay sebelum ini | ||
Malayalam മുമ്പ് | ||
Maltese qabel | ||
Maori tuhinga o mua | ||
Marathi आधी | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯃꯃꯥꯡꯗ | ||
Mizo hmaah | ||
Mongolian өмнө нь | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) မတိုင်မီ | ||
Nepali पहिले | ||
Norwegian før | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) kale | ||
Odia (Oriya) ପୂର୍ବରୁ | ||
Oromo dura | ||
Pashto مخکې | ||
Persian قبل از | ||
Polish przed | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) antes | ||
Punjabi ਅੱਗੇ | ||
Quechua ñawpaq | ||
Romanian inainte de | ||
Russian до | ||
Samoan muamua | ||
Sanskrit पूर्वम् | ||
Scots Gaelic roimhe seo | ||
Sepedi pele ga | ||
Serbian пре него што | ||
Sesotho pele ho | ||
Shona pamberi | ||
Sindhi اڳ | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) කලින් | ||
Slovak predtým | ||
Slovenian prej | ||
Somali ka hor | ||
Spanish antes de | ||
Sundanese sateuacanna | ||
Swahili kabla | ||
Swedish innan | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) dati pa | ||
Tajik пеш | ||
Tamil முன் | ||
Tatar элек | ||
Telugu ముందు | ||
Thai ก่อน | ||
Tigrinya ቅድሚ | ||
Tsonga ku nga si | ||
Turkish önce | ||
Turkmen öň | ||
Twi (Akan) ansa na | ||
Ukrainian раніше | ||
Urdu پہلے | ||
Uyghur ئىلگىرى | ||
Uzbek oldin | ||
Vietnamese trước | ||
Welsh o'r blaen | ||
Xhosa ngaphambili | ||
Yiddish איידער | ||
Yoruba ṣaaju | ||
Zulu ngaphambi |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | In Dutch, "voorheen" has the dual meaning of "before" and "previously". |
| Albanian | The Albanian word "parë" (before) is also used figuratively to mean "better" or "first in importance". |
| Amharic | The word ከዚህ በፊት can also mean "previously" or "in the past." |
| Arabic | The word 'قبل' can also mean 'in front of', 'facing towards', or 'opposite to' in Arabic. |
| Armenian | "Նախքան" comes from the Proto-Indo-European root *pre- (“before, forward”)", which is also the source of the English word "before". |
| Azerbaijani | The word "əvvəl" in Azerbaijani is derived from the Persian word "avval," meaning "beginning" or "first." |
| Basque | The word "aurretik" comes from the root "aurre" (front) and the suffix "-tik" (from), meaning literally "from the front". |
| Belarusian | The Belarusian word "раней" also means "formerly" and "previously" in English. |
| Bengali | আগে can also mean "in front of" or "ahead of". |
| Bosnian | The Slavic word 'prije' ('before') derives from the Proto-Slavic word 'pry', also meaning 'in front of' and 'on the other side'. |
| Bulgarian | The word "преди" can also mean "previously" or "earlier". |
| Catalan | The word "abans" is derived from the Latin "abante", meaning "from the front". |
| Cebuano | "Kaniadto" also means "in the past" or "formerly" in Cebuano. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | The word “之前” can also mean “previously” or “previously mentioned”. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 之前 is formed by the characters 先 (prior) + 前 (front). |
| Corsican | The word "prima" in Corsican can also mean "spring" or "first-born". |
| Croatian | In Croatian, "prije" can also refer to an "occurrence" or a "case". |
| Czech | The word "před" comes from the Proto-Slavic word *predъ, which also means "near" or "in front of." |
| Danish | The word "Før" is also used to mean "last year" or "ago" in Danish. |
| Dutch | "Voordat" is a portmanteau of "voor" (meaning "for") and "dat" (meaning "the") and can thus also mean "to be in front of" or "for that purpose". |
| Esperanto | "Antaŭe" is derived from the Latin "ante". |
| Estonian | The word "enne" can also refer to a place or position in front of something or someone. |
| Finnish | The word "ennen" is also used to express "formerly" or "previously." |
| French | The word "avant" in French can also mean "in front of" or "facing". |
| Frisian | The Frisian word "foar" can also mean "in front of" or "in the presence of". |
| Galician | The word "antes" comes from the Latin "ante", meaning "in front of" or "prior to" and can also refer to something that happened previously in Galician. |
| German | In Middle High German, "vor" also meant "for" and "because of". |
| Greek | Besides meaning "before," πρίν also meant "until" and "sooner, previously." |
| Gujarati | “પહેલાં” is also used in a context of "formerly" and "previous" in Gujarati. |
| Haitian Creole | The word "anvan" in Haitian Creole can also mean "in front of" or "first". |
| Hausa | The word “kafin” in Hausa can also mean “in front of” or “opposite”. |
| Hawaiian | The Hawaiian word "ma mua" not only means "before" but also refers to "the front," "the forehead," or "the face." |
| Hebrew | The word 'לפני' also means 'in front of', 'in the presence of', or 'in accordance with'. |
| Hindi | इससे पहले' (isse pahale) can mean 'until' or 'as soon as' as well as 'before' in Hindi. |
| Hmong | "Ua ntej" can also mean "first" or "foremost". |
| Hungarian | Előtt can also mean "in front of" or "opposite". |
| Icelandic | The Old Norse word 'áður' originally referred to the front of a boat, and later came to mean 'in the past' |
| Igbo | Igbo word "tupu" also means "formerly" or "once upon a time." |
| Indonesian | Sebelum can also mean 'at that time' or 'while' depending on the context. |
| Irish | In Irish, "roimh" can also mean "in front of" or "beforehand," and is cognate with the Latin word "Roma," or "Rome." |
| Italian | The word "prima" can also mean "for the first time" or "the first one". |
| Japanese | "前" can also mean "front" or "former." |
| Javanese | The Javanese word "sadurunge" can also mean "before" in a figurative sense, such as "beforehand" or "in advance". |
| Kannada | The word 'ಮೊದಲು' can also mean 'the beginning' or 'the first time'. |
| Kazakh | Бұрын in Kazakh can also mean earlier or previous. |
| Khmer | The Khmer word "មុន" can also mean "beginning" or "origin". |
| Korean | The word "전에" can also refer to being prior to something chronologically or in terms of order. |
| Kurdish | In some Kurdish dialects, "berî" also means "in front of" or "in the presence of". |
| Kyrgyz | The word "чейин" can also refer to the "front" or "first" part of something. |
| Lao | "ກ່ອນ" (before) is also used to express the idea of "previously" or "formerly" |
| Latin | In Latin, "ante" also means "in front of, opposite to, at the house of", and "facing". |
| Latvian | The archaic use of "pirms" in Latvian denotes a spatial relation of superiority. |
| Lithuanian | In Latvian, the word "prieš" also means "against". |
| Luxembourgish | The word "virun" can also mean "too far back" or "ahead of time" in Luxembourgish. |
| Macedonian | The word "порано" can also refer to the period of time before dawn. |
| Malagasy | "Alohan'ny" is a Malagasy word that can also mean "earlier" or "formerly." |
| Malay | "Sebelum ini" also means "previously" or "earlier". |
| Malayalam | The Malayalam word "മുമ്പ്" ("mumpu") is related to the Proto-Dravidian root, "*muppu" ("before, in front"), which signifies precedence in both time and space. |
| Maltese | Qabel may also refer to a type of Maltese folk song, a type of Maltese folk dance, or the first part of the Christian name of a Maltese person. |
| Maori | The term 'Tuhinga o mua' can also refer to ancient Maori texts or writings |
| Marathi | The Marathi word "आधी" (aadi) is also used to mean "the beginning" or "the first part of something." |
| Mongolian | In Mongolian, 'өмнө нь' ('before') can also refer to a time or place in the past, or to something that happened earlier. |
| Nepali | पहिले in Nepali also means "west". |
| Norwegian | "Før" can also mean "to deceive" or "to lure", a meaning derived from its role in the phrase "føre bak lyset" (lit. "to lead behind the light"), meaning "to fool". |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | Kale can refer to "in front of" or "before". |
| Pashto | The word "مخکې" in Pashto can also refer to the front of something or the beginning of a period of time |
| Persian | The word "قبل از" (before) is derived from the Arabic word "قبل" (face), and can also mean "in front of" or "in the presence of". |
| Polish | "Przed" means "before," but also "in the presence of" or "in front of" |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | In Portuguese, the word "antes" also means "previously" or "formerly". |
| Punjabi | "ਅੱਗੇ" derives from Sanskrit "agra" which can also mean "front, tip, edge or chief". |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "înainte de" is derived from the Latin "antea". It can also mean "ahead" or "in front of". |
| Russian | "До" also means "until" or "to, up to, as far as". |
| Samoan | The Samoan word "muamua" can also mean "chief" or "first" |
| Scots Gaelic | In certain contexts the word "roimhe seo" can also mean "so far". |
| Serbian | Пре него што (pre nego što) has alternate meanings of "as soon as" or "after", depending on the verb it is used with. |
| Sesotho | The Sesotho word "pele ho" not only means "before" but also relates to the front or first position of something. |
| Shona | Pamberi can also mean "past", but this usage is mainly found in traditional stories and poems. |
| Sindhi | The word "اڳ" may also mean "in front" or "in the open" in Sindhi. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The word "කලින්" is also used in Sinhala to denote "formerly" or "in the past". |
| Slovak | "Predtým" is the Slovak word for "before". It is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *predь, which also means "before". |
| Slovenian | Prej derives from Proto-Slavic *prědьe, meaning "in front of", and has additional meanings, such as "previously" and "formerly". |
| Somali | Somali 'ka hor' means 'before', 'in front of', or 'on behalf of'. |
| Spanish | "Antes de" is also used in Spanish to mean "previously" or "formerly." |
| Sundanese | The word 'sateuacanna' can also mean 'in front of' or 'opposite' in Sundanese. |
| Swahili | The word "kabla" can also refer to a place or time period before something else. |
| Swedish | Innan, the Swedish word for "before," also has an alternate meaning: "within." |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | Dati pa is derived from the Sanskrit word 'Dati,' which means 'former time, past. |
| Tajik | The word "пеш" also means "at first" or "in front" in Tajik |
| Tamil | The word "முன்" can also mean "front" or "anterior". |
| Telugu | The word "ముందు" can also mean "in front of", "ahead", or "leading". |
| Thai | "ก่อน" can also mean "earlier" or "in advance". |
| Turkish | Alternately, "önce" in Turkish can also mean "in front of", "earlier", or "previously". |
| Ukrainian | The word "раніше" can also mean "formerly" or "previously" in Ukrainian. |
| Urdu | The word "پہلے" ( pahlay ) can also mean "formerly" or "previously" in Urdu. |
| Uzbek | In addition to meaning "before," "oldin" can also mean "ancient" or "in the past." |
| Vietnamese | The word "trước" (before) also has the meaning of the "outside" in chess, or the "front" of a building. |
| Welsh | 'O'r Blaen' can also refer to the first verse of a Welsh englyn (strophic poem). |
| Xhosa | The word "ngaphambili" is also used to refer to the front of something or to the future. |
| Yiddish | איידער can also be an adverb which means "rather" or "preferable" |
| Yoruba | Ṣaaju can also mean "in front of" or "facing". |
| Zulu | "Ngaphambi" can also mean "earlier" or "in the past." |
| English | The word 'before' comes from the Old English word 'beforan', which means 'in front of' or 'earlier than'. It is also used to refer to a place or time that is ahead of another place or time. |