What part of speech is the word "before" ? He came before the appointed time.

Question

Accepted Answer

The word "before" in the sentence "He came before the appointed time" is a **preposition** because it shows the relationship between the verb "came" and the noun phrase "the appointed time." Specifically, it indicates the temporal relationship, meaning he arrived *prior to* the appointed time. A preposition connects a noun or pronoun (in this case, "the appointed time") to another word in the sentence (in this case, the verb "came") to form a prepositional phrase that modifies that word.

Here's why the other options are incorrect:

*   **Adverb:** An adverb modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb. While "before" *can* function as an adverb in other contexts, in this sentence, it's not modifying "came" directly. It's part of the phrase "before the appointed time," which as a whole modifies "came." If it were an adverb, the sentence would likely be structured differently (e.g., "He came earlier").

*   **Noun:** A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. "Before" doesn't represent any of these in the given sentence.

*   **Adjective:** An adjective modifies a noun or pronoun. "Before" is not describing "he" or any other noun in the sentence. It's relating "he came" to "the appointed time."