preposition (formal) · formal
prior to
UK/ˈpraɪə tuː/US/ˈpraɪər tuː/PRI·or·to
task2task1speaking
before (formal); used in writing to indicate something happened earlier than something else
Examples
“Prior to joining the company, she worked as a teacher.”
“All documents must be submitted prior to the deadline.”
“Prior to arriving, please call the office.”
Band 8 sentence
“Prior to conducting the experiment, the team obtained ethical approval from the review board.”
Collocations
- prior to + noun (e.g. prior to the meeting)
- prior to + -ing (e.g. prior to arriving)
Word family
prior adjective
Common mistakes
Prior to to submit the form, check it carefully.→Prior to submitting the form, check it carefully.
We met prior than the conference.→We met prior to the conference.
Say it for a higher band
5before→6beforehand→7+prior to
Synonyms
before
Easily confused
before
“Before the exam, she revised all her notes.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In Sequence
Learn it with its set