BEFORE - Translation from English into German

in the PONS Dictionary

I. be·fore [bɪˈfɔ:ʳ, Am -ˈfɔ:r] PREP

1. before (at previous time to):

before: vor +dat

I need to go before 2 pm: ich muss vor 2 Uhr gehen

wash your hands before the meal: wasch dir vor dem Essen die Hände

before leaving he said goodbye to each of them: vor seiner Abfahrt verabschiedete er sich von jedem Einzelnen

before everything else: zuallererst

before long: in Kürze

before now: schon früher

before the time: zu früh

before one's time: vorzeitig

she has grown old before her time: sie ist vorzeitig gealtert

to be before one's time: seiner Zeit voraus sein

the day before yesterday: vorgestern

the year before last/this: vorletztes/letztes Jahr

just before sth: kurz vor etw dat

she always buys her Christmas presents just before Christmas: sie kauft ihre Weihnachtsgeschenke immer erst kurz vor Weihnachten

2. before with verbs of motion:

before (in front of): vor +dat

before (in front of): vor +acc

before (encountered first): vor +dat

the letter K comes before L: der Buchstabe K kommt vor dem L

the patterns swam before her eyes: die Zeichen verschwammen vor ihren Augen

there is a large sign before the house: vor dem Haus ist ein großes Schild

the bus stop is just before the school: die Bushaltestelle befindet sich direkt vor der Schule

3. before (higher ranking):

before: vor +dat

many mothers put their children's needs before their own: viele Mütter stellen die Bedürfnisse ihrer Kinder über ihre eigenen

I'd go to prison before asking her for money: ich würde eher ins Gefängnis gehen, als sie um Geld zu bitten

for me family is before everything: die Familie geht mir über alles

4. before (in presence of):

before: vor +dat

he stood up before the audience: er stand vor dem Publikum auf

it happened before her very eyes: es geschah vor ihren Augen

5. before (for examination, consideration):

before: vor +dat

our case is coming before the court this week: unser Fall kommt diese Woche vor Gericht

6. before (in future):

before: vor +dat

the task before us: die Aufgabe, vor der wir stehen

to lie before one: vor jdm liegen

to have sth before one: etw vor sich dat haben

you have your whole future before you: du hast noch deine ganze Zukunft vor dir

II. be·fore [bɪˈfɔ:ʳ, Am -ˈfɔ:r] CONJ

1. before (at previous time):

before: bevor

before you criticize me, ...: bevor du mich kritisierst, ...

she was waiting long before it was time: sie wartete schon lange, bevor es soweit war

right [or just]before ...: kurz bevor ...

just before she left the house, ...: als sie gerade das Haus verlassen wollte, ...

but before I knew it, she was gone: doch ehe ich mich versah, war sie schon verschwunden

2. before (rather than):

before: bevor

before: ehe

before they testified against their friends, they said they'd go to jail: sie würden eher ins Gefängnis gehen, als gegen ihre Freunde auszusagen, meinten sie

they would die before they would cooperate with each other: sie würden lieber sterben als miteinander zusammenzuarbeiten

3. before (until):

before: bis

it was an hour before the police arrived: es dauerte eine Stunde, bis die Polizei eintraf

before we got the test results back, a month had gone by: wir warteten einen Monat auf die Testergebnisse

it will be two weeks before he arrives: er wird erst in zwei Wochen eintreffen

not before: erst wenn

not before: nicht eher als bis

you can't go before you've finished: du kannst erst gehen, wenn du fertig bist

4. before (so that):

before: damit

you must say the password at the door before they'll let you in: du musst an der Tür das Kennwort sagen, damit sie dich hineinlassen

III. be·fore [bɪˈfɔ:ʳ, Am -ˈfɔ:r] ADV inv

1. before (earlier, previously):

before: zuvor

before: vorher

I have never seen that before: das habe ich noch nie gesehen

have you been to Cologne before?: waren Sie schon einmal in Köln?

haven't we met before?: haben wir uns nicht schon einmal gesehen?

that has never happened before: das ist [bisher] noch nie passiert

she has seen it all before: sie kennt das alles schon

to be as before: wie früher sein

life went on as before: das Leben ging wieder seinen gewohnten Gang

before and after: davor und danach

2. before (in front):

before: vorn

before and behind: vorn und hinten

IV. be·fore [bɪˈfɔ:ʳ, Am -ˈfɔ:r] ADJ after n

before: zuvor

the day before, it had rained: tags zuvor hatte es geregnet

the year before it had been rather quiet: das Vorjahr war ganz ruhig verlaufen

read this line and the one before: lies diese Zeile und die vorhergehende [o. davor]

beˈfore-hour ADJ attr, inv FIN

before-hour dealings pl: Vorbörse f <-, -n>

be·ˈfore-tax ADJ attr, inv

before-tax: Brutto-

before-tax income: Bruttoeinkommen nt <-s, ->

be·fore ˈtaxes ADJ after n, inv

amount before taxes: Vorsteuerbetrag m

income before taxes: Gewinn m vor Steuern

go before VB intr

1. go before (precede):

to go before sb you can go before me in the queue: ich lasse Sie vor

to go before sth: vor etw dat kommen

A goes before B in the alphabet: A kommt im Alphabet vor B

2. go before (appear in presence of):

to go before the court/a judge: vor Gericht/einem Richter erscheinen

3. go before:

go before (live before): in früheren Zeiten leben

go before (happen before): früher geschehen

rank before VB

rank before: im Rang höher sein

before taxes phrase TAX

before taxes: vor Steuern

before value phrase ACCOUNT

before value: vor Wert

best-be·ˈfore date N

best-before date: Mindesthaltbarkeitsdatum nt <-s, -daten>

amount before taxes N TAX

amount before taxes: Vor-Steuer-Betrag m

before-hour dealings N FINMKT

before-hour dealings (telefonischer und fernschriftlicher Wertpapierhandel vor Beginn der eigentlichen Börsensitzung): Vorbörse f

income before taxes N ACCOUNT

income before taxes: Gewinn vor Steuern m

market before official hours N FINMKT

market before official hours (telefonischer und fernschriftlicher Wertpapierhandel vor Beginn der eigentlichen Börsensitzung): Vorbörse f

before and after study

before and after study: Vorher-Nachher Untersuchung

earnings before interest and taxes phrase ACCOUNT

earnings before interest and taxes (Gewinn vor Zinsen und Steuern): EBIT m

dividend per share before tax credit N TAX

dividend per share before tax credit: Dividende vor Steuergutschrift f

earnings before depreciation, interest and tax phrase ACCOUNT

earnings before depreciation, interest and tax (Gewinn vor Abschreibungen, Zinsen und Steuern): EBDIT m

Present
I	go before
you	go before
he/she/it	goes before
we	go before
you	go before
they	go before

Past
I	went before
you	went before
he/she/it	went before
we	went before
you	went before
they	went before

Present Perfect
I	have	gone before
you	have	gone before
he/she/it	has	gone before
we	have	gone before
you	have	gone before
they	have	gone before

Past Perfect
I	had	gone before
you	had	gone before
he/she/it	had	gone before
we	had	gone before
you	had	gone before
they	had	gone before

See further verb tables

Examples from the PONS Dictionary (editorially verified)

never before: noch nie [zuvor]

before this: früher

before now: schon früher

before then: vorher

before long: in Kürze

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in the PONS Dictionary

I. be·fore [bɪˈfɔ:ʳ, Am -ˈfɔ:r] PREP

1. before (at previous time to):

2. before with verbs of motion:

3. before (higher ranking):

4. before (in presence of):

5. before (for examination, consideration):

6. before (in future):

II. be·fore [bɪˈfɔ:ʳ, Am -ˈfɔ:r] CONJ

1. before (at previous time):

2. before (rather than):

3. before (until):

4. before (so that):

III. be·fore [bɪˈfɔ:ʳ, Am -ˈfɔ:r] ADV inv

1. before (earlier, previously):

2. before (in front):

IV. be·fore [bɪˈfɔ:ʳ, Am -ˈfɔ:r] ADJ after n

beˈfore-hour ADJ attr, inv FIN

be·ˈfore-tax ADJ attr, inv

be·fore ˈtaxes ADJ after n, inv

go before VB intr

1. go before (precede):

2. go before (appear in presence of):

3. go before:

rank before VB

before taxes phrase TAX

before value phrase ACCOUNT

best-be·ˈfore date N

I. leg be·fore ˈwick·et, lbw SPORTS (cricket) ADV

II. leg be·fore ˈwick·et, lbw SPORTS (cricket) ADJ inv

III. leg be·fore ˈwick·et, lbw SPORTS (cricket) N

amount before taxes N TAX

before-hour dealings N FINMKT

income before taxes N ACCOUNT

market before official hours N FINMKT

before and after study

earnings before interest and taxes phrase ACCOUNT

dividend per share before tax credit N TAX

earnings before depreciation, interest and tax phrase ACCOUNT

Examples from the PONS Dictionary (editorially verified)

Browse the dictionary

Look up "before" in other languages