# b4 vs by

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### b4
*preposition · frequency rank #28,122*
Alternative letter-case form of B4 (“before”).

### by
*preposition · IPA /baɪ/ · frequency rank #24*
Near or next to.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/b4-vs-by