After and before en anglais : grammaire anglaise / définition

Approfondissez votre maîtrise de After and before : définition et utilisation. Améliorez votre grammaire anglaise grâce à Gymglish.

Testez votre anglais Test gratuit et sans engagement
4,7 sur App Store, Play Store et Trustpilot. Plus de 8 000 000 apprenants dans le monde.

After and before

Principaux emplois de after (après) et before (avant) :
• après, avant (préposition) :
after lunch après le déjeuner
before dinner avant le dîner
After thanking them I left. Je suis parti après les avoir remerciés.
Before going to France, you should read the guide book. Avant de partir pour la France, vous devriez lire le guide.
after all après tout, dans le fond
• après que, avant que (conjonction) :
After he told me the story, he left my house. Après m'avoir raconté l'histoire, il est parti de chez moi.
Before we start dinner, I would like to say something. Avant que nous commencions à dîner, j'aimerais dire quelques mots.
• en tant qu'adverbes, en fin de proposition (plus tard, auparavant, déjà) :
The thief got caught a month after he committed the crime. Le voleur a été attrapé un mois après avoir commis le crime.
He has written about this subject before. Il a déjà écrit sur ce sujet.
I've seen him before. Je l'ai déjà vu.
Remarque : quand un verbe suit après ou avant, il est soit conjugué avec un sujet soit au gérondif (forme en -ing).
After arriving at the hotel, Mr. Lee went straight to the reception desk. Après être arrivé à l'hôtel, M. Lee s'est directement rendu à l'accueil.
Before I go to bed, I always say a prayer for my parents' good health. Avant que j'aille au lit, je fais toujours une prière pour que mes parents restent en bonne santé.
Exercice 1
Use the words from this list to fill in the blanks in the text. Be careful! Some words may be used more than once.

all | about | to | finally | first | before | as | with | on | in

'Hey, Philip, come here. I want to tell you a story my trip China,' said Kevin. 'Hold a minute, let me finish my lunch ,' answered Philip. Several minutes passed Philip entered Kevin's office. 'Ok, tell me your story,' said Philip. ' you may know, I went China last week. I had a meeting Mrs. Mei-Tsing Lee to discuss our new production plan. And, the day I went to her office, I accidentally got the wrong bus. And, the next thing I knew, I was North Korea.' 'Is that ?' 'Well, yes.'
Use the words from this list to fill in the blanks in the text. Be careful! Some words may be used more than once.

all | about | to | finally | first | before | as | with | on | in

'Hey, Philip, come here. I want to tell you a story about 1 my trip to 2 China,' said Kevin. 'Hold on 3 a minute, let me finish my lunch first 4,' answered Philip. Several minutes passed before 5 Philip finally 6 entered Kevin's office. 'Ok, tell me your story,' said Philip. 'as 7 you may know, I went to 8 China last week. I had a meeting with 9 Mrs. Mei-Tsing Lee to discuss our new production plan. And, on 10 the day I went to her office, I accidentally got on 11 the wrong bus. And, the next thing I knew, I was in 12 North Korea.' 'Is that all 13?' 'Well, yes.'
1 about: We can talk about something, but we talk to someone. 'About' is the best choice here. Example: I want to talk to you about my mother.
2 to: Kevin is telling Philip about his trip to China. 'To' is the best choice because a 'trip' carries the idea of movement. When we speak about movement, we always talk about someone or something going from one place to another. In this case 'to' indicates the destination of Kevin's trip.
3 on: 'On' is the best choice here. "Hold on" is a common expression which means 'please wait' or 'wait a minute'. It is often used when speaking on the phone. Example: Please hold on while I grab a pencil.
4 first: 'First' is the correct choice. Philip says 'let me finish my lunch first', meaning that he wants to finish his lunch 'before' Kevin tells him the story of his trip to Asia.
5 before: 'Before' is the correct answer. It tells us that time has passed before Philip enters Kevin's office. Example: We were talking about you before you arrived.
6 finally: 'Finally' means 'at last' or 'lastly'. It is the best choice here. Example: I've finally finished reading War and Peace.
7 as: 'As you may know' is an expression which introduces a fact or statement which is presumably known by one person or a group of people. Example: As you will know, your mother and I have decided to adopt a guinea pig.
8 to: Kevin is telling Philip that he went 'to' China. 'To' is the best choice because the verb 'to go' carries the idea of movement, and the preposition 'to' indicates the object or destination of this movement. Example: I'm going to London next week.
9 with: 'With' groups together objects, people and ideas. It is the best choice here to tell us 'whom' Kevin met (Mei-Tsing Lee). Example: I had a date with a guy I met online.
10 on: "On the day" is the correct choice. We use this type of expression to give specific information about a date. Example: On August first, on Monday morning, etc.
11 on: 'To get on the bus' is to board a bus. When using prepositions with modes of transportation, we often run into problems. Usually, when we are speaking about public transportation (bus, metro, airplane, etc.) we use the preposition on. But if we are talking about a car, we use in (get in the car).
12 in: Kevin tells Philip that he was in North Korea, which means that he was inside the country or within the country's borders. Example: I was in Puerto Rico when the hurricane hit.
13 all: 'Is that all?' is a question which asks if someone is finished (speaking, shopping, etc.). Example: Is that all the cake you have left?
Exercice 2
Lunch is a meal traditionally taken breakfast but dinner. Most people eat their dessert their main course.
Lunch is a meal traditionally taken after 1 breakfast but before 2 dinner. Most people eat their dessert after 3 their main course.
1 after: The normal order of meals in a day is: breakfast, lunch, dinner. Therefore, lunch is traditionally taken (eaten) after breakfast.
1 before: Lunch is not eaten before breakfast. Breakfast is the first meal of the day!
2 before: Lunch is the name most English speakers use for the meal eaten in the early afternoon. It is taken before dinner, which is eaten in the evening.
2 after: Lunch is not normally eaten after dinner.
3 after: The normal order of courses in a three-course meal is: starter, main course, dessert. Dessert is the sweet dish usually eaten after the savory main course.
3 before: You're free to eat your dessert before your main course if you want, Bruno, but don't expect everyone else to do the same!
Exercice 3
Complete the sentences below with the most appropriate word.

I recognize you. I must have seen you .
Please go ahead and use the bathroom. I will use it you.
You need to say something it is too late.
Complete the sentences below with the most appropriate word.

I recognize you. I must have seen you before 1.
Please go ahead and use the bathroom. I will use it after 2 you.
You need to say something before 3 it is too late.
1 before: 'Before' can be used at the end of a sentence to mean 'in the past' or 'previously'. Another example: 'I think we've been to this restaurant before'.
1 after: Using 'after' here does not explain why the speaker recognizes the other person. Also, we don't normally use it at the end of a sentence. 'After' is usually followed by a noun or a verb, for example: 'Let's have a coffee after the meeting'; 'We can start eating after she arrives'.
1 while: Using 'while' here is grammatically incorrect. 'While' must always be followed by a verb. For example: 'I sometimes watch my children while they sleep'; 'I like to listen to music while I walk to work'.
2 after: The speaker is suggesting that the other person use the bathroom first, and that the speaker use it second. Therefore, 'after' is appropriate here.
2 before: It doesn't make sense for the speaker to encourage the other person to 'go ahead and use the bathroom' (now) if the speaker intends to use it before the other person.
2 during: 'During' cannot be followed by a pronoun like 'you' in English: it must be followed by a noun. For example: 'I'll find you at some point during the concert'. We could say 'I'll use the bathroom at the same time as you' or 'I'll use the bathroom while you do', but let's be honest, Bruno: that would be pretty disgusting.
3 before: We often say 'before it is too late' in English to refer to doing something in a timely, punctual or prompt way. More generally, 'before' can be followed by a verb. For example: 'Let's meet again before you leave the country!'.
3 after: It doesn't make sense to suggest that someone do something 'after it is too late'. By definition, such an action would be too late, overly delayed, past the deadline, or no longer useful!
3 while: It doesn't make sense to suggest that someone do something 'while it is too late'. By definition, such an action would be too late, overly delayed, past the deadline, or no longer useful!
Exercice 4
Complete the sentences below with the most appropriate word.

Kevin left the house, he realized he had forgotten his keys and couldn’t get back in.
Horatio was very late: he arrived at the meeting 30 minutes Susie did.
You got 100%! Have you done this test ?
Complete the sentences below with the most appropriate word.

After 1 Kevin left the house, he realized he had forgotten his keys and couldn’t get back in.
Horatio was very late: he arrived at the meeting 30 minutes after 2 Susie did.
You got 100%! Have you done this test before 3?
1 After: The order of the events here is: Kevin left the house; Kevin realized he had forgotten his keys; Kevin realized he couldn't get back into the house. Therefore, he realized he had forgotten his keys after he left the house.
1 Before: If Kevin had realized he had forgotten his keys before he left the house, he would have been able to get back in! Therefore, the sentence doesn't make sense with 'before'.
1 During: 'During' cannot be followed by a verb like 'he left' in English: it must be followed by a noun. For example: 'Please keep your mobile phones off during takeoff'.
2 after: If Horatio was very late, then he logically arrived later than Susie did. We therefore use 'after' followed by the verb 'Susie did' (which means 'Susie arrived', but avoids repeating the verb 'arrived'). Another example: My twin brother was born 20 minutes before I was.
2 before: Since we have no indication that Susie was late to the meeting, it doesn't make sense for Horatio to arrive before her and still be late.
2 than: This sentence doesn't make sense with 'than', which is generally preceded by an adjective or adverb. We could say: 'Horatio arrived at the meeting 30 minutes later than Susie'.
3 before: 'Before' can be used at the end of a sentence to mean 'in the past' or 'previously'. Another example: 'We haven't ever met before, have we?'.
3 after: 'After' doesn't make sense in this sentence, and isn't generally used at the end of a sentence. We might say: 'Did you take the test after taking those amphetamines?'.
3 while: Using 'while' here is grammatically incorrect. 'While' must always be followed by a verb. For example: 'She likes to listen to classical music while she works'.
Exercice 5
Immediately after up, Icarus heard his mother coughing, and felt very worried. Before back to bed, he decided to take some cough syrup, just in case. He didn’t want to make the same mistake as .
Immediately after waking 1 up, Icarus heard his mother coughing, and felt very worried. Before going 2 back to bed, he decided to take some cough syrup, just in case. He didn’t want to make the same mistake as before 3.
1 waking: When 'after' or 'before' is followed by a verb, the verb is generally either in the '-ing' form or a conjugated form (with a subject). Another example: 'They went to the pub after finishing work / after they finished work'.
1 to wake: We don't use the infinitive of the verb with 'after'.
1 woke: We can use the simple past tense with 'after', but we need a subject. We could say: 'Immediately after he woke up, Icarus heard his mother coughing'.
2 going: When 'before' or 'after' is followed by a verb, the verb is generally either in the '-ing' form or in a conjugated form (with a subject). Another example: 'Before saying anything, think carefully' or 'Before you say anything, think carefully'.
2 to go: We don't use the infinitive of the verb with 'before'.
2 went: We can use the simple past tense with 'before', but we need a subject. We could say: 'Before he went back to bed, he decided to take some cough syrup'.
3 before: 'To make the same mistake as before' means 'to repeat a mistake which you made in the past' (at an unspecified time in the past). Another example: 'I don't want to go to the same holiday resort as before'.
3 after: 'After' does not make sense in this sentence. Icarus cannot avoid a mistake which he will make 'after' (in other words, 'later' or 'in the future').

Vous souhaitez découvrir d'autres modules de grammaire anglaise à l'image de After and before ?
Apprenez l'anglais en testant Gymglish, notre cours d'anglais gratuit.

Ils parlent de nous :

Plaisir

         

Je prends du plaisir à faire mes cours d'anglais en ligne. Une dizaine de minutes par jour suffisent... Merci !

Innovant

         

J'adore votre méthode innovante qui permet d'apprendre une langue tout en s'amusant !

Unique

         

Votre méthode est unique ! Vos cours m’ont permis de progresser et de prendre confiance lors de mes échanges à l'étranger...

Progrès

         

Gymglish m'a permis d'améliorer mon anglais. Un rendez-vous quotidien que je ne louperais pour rien au monde !

Plus de témoignages.

Maintenant que vous savez utiliser After and before, pourquoi ne pas explorer nos autres fiches de grammaire anglaise ?
Pour approfondir vos connaissances et améliorer votre niveau, essayez nos cours d'anglais en ligne Gymglish. Test gratuit et sans engagement.

Testez votre anglais