Parts of Speech – Role of “Before” in the Phrase “Before We Meet Again”

parts-of-speechreasoning

Identify the part of speech of the word in bold:

It will be five years before we meet again.

4 options:

  • Preposition
  • Adverb
  • Conjuction
  • Adjective

Now, According to my knowledge, "before" is an adverb. However the correct answer was – conjunction. What am I missing?

Best Answer

Traditionally, it's referred to as a "subordinating conjunction" because it introduces a subordinate clause.

But in modern grammar, it's analyzed as a preposition that takes a clause rather than a noun phrase as a complement.

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