The difference between Before and Behind

When used as prepositions, before means earlier than (in time), whereas behind means at the back of.

When used as adverbs, before means at an earlier time, whereas behind means at the back part.

Before is also conjunction with the meaning: in advance of the time when.

Behind is also noun with the meaning: the rear, back-end.

check bellow for the other definitions of Before and Behind

  1. Before as a preposition:

    Earlier than (in time).

    Examples:

    "I want this done before Monday."

  2. Before as a preposition:

    In front of in space.

    Examples:

    "He stood before me."

    "We sat before the fire to warm ourselves."

  3. Before as a preposition:

    In the presence of.

    Examples:

    "He performed before the troops in North Africa."

    "He spoke before a joint session of Congress."

  4. Before as a preposition:

    Under consideration, judgment, authority of (someone).

    Examples:

    "The case laid before the panel aroused nothing but ridicule."

  5. Before as a preposition:

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

  6. Before as a preposition:

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

    Examples:

    "In alphabetical order, "cat" comes before "dog", "canine" before feline"."

  7. Before as a preposition:

    At a higher or greater position than, in a ranking.

    Examples:

    "An entrepreneur puts market share and profit before quality, an amateur intrinsic qualities before economical considerations."

  1. Before as an adverb:

    At an earlier time.

    Examples:

    "I've never done this before."

  2. Before as an adverb:

    In advance.

  3. Before as an adverb:

    At the front end.

  1. Behind as a preposition:

    At the back of; positioned with something else in front of.

    Examples:

    "The car is behind the wall."

  2. Behind as a preposition:

    To the back of.

  3. Behind as a preposition:

    After, time- or motion-wise.

  4. Behind as a preposition:

    responsible for

    Examples:

    "Who is behind these terrorist attacks?"

  5. Behind as a preposition:

    In support of.

    Examples:

    "The republicans are fully behind their candidate."

  6. Behind as a preposition:

    Left a distance by, in progress or improvement; inferior to.

    Examples:

    "I'm ranked sixth in the French class, behind five other pupils."

  7. Behind as a preposition (non-standard, US, slang):

    As a result or consequence of

  1. Behind as an adverb:

    At the back part; in the rear.

  2. Behind as an adverb:

    Toward the back part or rear; backward.

    Examples:

    "to look behind"

  3. Behind as an adverb:

    Overdue, in arrears.

    Examples:

    "My employer is two paychecks behind on paying my salary."

    "I'm two weeks behind in my schedule."

  4. Behind as an adverb:

    Slow; of a watch or clock.

    Examples:

    "My watch is four minutes behind."

  5. Behind as an adverb:

    existing afterwards

    Examples:

    "He left behind a legacy of death and sorrow."

    "He stayed behind after the war."

  6. Behind as an adverb:

    Backward in time or order of succession; past.

  7. Behind as an adverb:

    Behind the scenes in a theatre; backstage.

  8. Behind as an adverb (archaic):

    Not yet brought forward, produced, or exhibited to view; out of sight; remaining.

  1. Behind as a noun:

    the rear, back-end

  2. Behind as a noun (informal):

    butt, the buttocks, bottom

  3. Behind as a noun (Australian rules football):

    A one-point score.

  4. Behind as a noun (baseball, slang, 1800s):

    The catcher.

  5. Behind as a noun:

    In the Eton College field game, any of a group of players consisting of two "shorts" (who try to kick the ball over the bully) and a "long" (who defends the goal).

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