# become vs before

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### become
*verb · IPA /bɪˈkʌm/ · frequency rank #381*
begin to be; turn into (often with permanent states).

### before
*preposition · IPA /bɪˈfɔː/ · frequency rank #123*
Earlier than (in time).

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