antes
Spanish, preposition/ˈantes/
antes is spelled A-N-T-E-S (5 letters) and appears 661 times per million words in written Spanish, the 116th most frequent Spanish word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Antes is a Spanish preposition meaning “before (earlier than) (triggers the subjunctive in subordinate clauses)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a plural of ante.
What does antes mean in English?
adverb
- 1
earlier; before; sooner; previously; formerly; beforehand (at an earlier time)
poco antes
- 2
soon (in certain phrases)
Quería que lo supieras cuanto antes.
- 3
ahead (temporally), ahead of (when followed by de)
Bueno, si solo hubieras llamado antes como te dije, ni siquiera estaríamos en esta situación.
- 4
once, formerly (in the past)
Antes todos tenían buscapersonas.
- 5
first (before a condition is fulfilled)
- 6
rather, sooner (used to specify a preference)
Antes morir que perder.
preposition
- 1
before (earlier than) (triggers the subjunctive in subordinate clauses)
antes de 1910
noun
- 1
masculineplural of ante
suffix
- 1
plural of -ante
Source: English Wiktionary, Spanish section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Spanish dictionaries define it
adverb: 1. Indica que algo tiene lugar primero o previo en un orden de sucesión en el espacio.
adverb: 1. Indica que algo ocurre primero en el tiempo, que precede o es previo.
adverb: 1. Indica precedencia, primacía, prioridad o preferencia.
conjunction: 1. Introduce una idea o frase que contradice y se prefiere a otra previa: por el contrario.
adjective: 1. Que antecede, precede o está primero en el espacio o el tiempo.
The definition in the Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), in Spanish.
Source: Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of antes
- denante alternative uncommon
- enantes alternative Latin-America
- enante alternative archaic
- endenantes alternative nonstandard
- denantes alternative nonstandard
- antes de canonical
Source: English Wiktionary and Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce antes?
- /ˈantes/
- [ˈãn̪.t̪es]
- [ˈãn̪t̪es]
Sources: English Wiktionary, Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to antes
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is antes in Spanish?
antes appears 661 times per million words in written Spanish.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).