In iWeb corpus ‘before’ is tagged in 3 ways.
1 BEFORE (II) 3240842
Collocates of ‘before’ as a preposition in the MOVIE corpus:
1 LONG 1450
2 EYES 633
your whole life flashes before your eyes
You eat with your eyes before your mouth.
3 DAYS 614
we‘ll have the tree to put up and decorate
and there are only two days left before Christmas.
4 WAR 516
5 GETS 510
6 MINUTES 491
7 COMES 463
8 CHRISTMAS 456
9 DINNER 416
10 HOURS 398
11 MET 369
12 DAWN 364
13 WEDDING 357
14 DARK 353
15 WEEK 351
16 WEEKS 336
17 DIED 324
18 DEATH 314
19 HOUR 280
20 COURT 263
2 BEFORE (CS) 2449322
Collocates as a subordinating conjunction in the MOVIE corpus show that the past simple is very common and this is B2 in the EGP.
1 LONG 1667
long before = C2 a long period of time before something
He had the chance to read it all
How long were you into the process
2 LEAVE 1575
3 LEFT 1564
4 DIED 1461
5 CAME 1443
6 GETS 1419
7 START 1167
8 WENT 1150
9 LATE 1014
10 DIE 1009
11 KNEW 968
12 MET 930
13 BORN 787
14 STARTED 787
15 MARRIED 687
16 CATCH 330
17 BEGIN 317
18 YESTERDAY 290
19 FINISH 268
20 BECAME 256
3 BEFORE (RT) 1195294 A2
As a time adverb, it is usually followed by punctuation such as a full stop to end the sentence.
1 EVER BEFORE. 46488
We should be proud of Dad, now more than ever before.
2 THAN (CSN) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 25451
3 SEEN (VVN) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 21220
4 AS (CSA) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 18923
5 AS (CSA) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 17541
6 IT (PPH1) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 16153
7 EVER (RR) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 16067
8 SAID (VVD) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 15412
9 IT (PPH1) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 14944
10 THIS (DD1) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 13540
11 NIGHT (NNT1) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 13262
12 NEVER (RR) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 12578
13 THIS (DD1) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 12407
14 DONE (VDN) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 10760
15 DAY (NNT1) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 10312
16 NIGHT (NNT1) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 10294
17 YEAR (NNT1) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 10175
18 THAN (CSN) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 9146
19 MENTIONED (VVN) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 8987
20 SEEN (VVN) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 8192
21 DAY (NNT1) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 8064
22 MENTIONED (VVD) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 7474
23 YEARS (NNT2) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 7246
24 TIMES (NNT2) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 7138
25 WAS (VBDZ) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 6895
26 DID (VDD) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 6436
27 NEVER (RR) BEFORE (RT) SEEN (VVN) 6317
28 HAD (VHD) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 6220
29 YEAR (NNT1) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 6199
30 . (.) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 6127
31 TIMES (NNT2) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 6038
32 YEARS (NNT2) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 5902
33 DONE (VDN) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 5887
34 IT (PPH1) BEFORE (RT@_II_CS) AND (CC) 5741
35 THE (AT) BEFORE (RT@) AND (CC) 4982
36 THIS (DD1) BEFORE (RT@_CS_II) AND (CC) 4878
37 SAID (VVN) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 4867
38 THAT (DD1) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 4731
39 THEM (PPHO2) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 4598
40 . (.) BEFORE (RT@_CS) THAT (CST) 4536
41 THERE (RL) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 4466
42 BEEN (VBN) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 4255
43 THIS (DD1) BEFORE (RT@_II) ? (?) 4152
44 OF (IO) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 3826
45 ONE (PN1) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 3670
46 NEVER (RR) BEFORE (RT) BEEN (VBN) 3436
47 HERE (RL) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 3384
48 WERE (VBDR) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 3384
49 NEVER (RR) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 3382
50 NEVER (RR) BEFORE (RT) HAS (VHZ) 3335
51 THEM (PPHO2) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 3296
52 THAT (CST_DD1) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 3086
53 GONE (VVN) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 3010
54 HEARD (VVN) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 2871
55 HERE (RL) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 2866
56 WEEK (NNT1) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 2843
57 DID (VDD) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 2785
58 SEEN (VVN) BEFORE (RT) IN (II) 2775
59 STATED (VVN) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 2733
60 DAYS (NNT2) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 2662
61 DAYS (NNT2) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 2636
62 ” (”) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 2634
63 EXPERIENCED (VVN) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 2630
64 WAS (VBDZ) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 2627
65 HAPPENED (VVN) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 2618
66 THIS (DD1) BEFORE (RT@_II) BUT (CCB) 2571
67 NEVER (RR) BEFORE (RT) HAVE (VH0) 2551
68 NOT (XX) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 2526
69 ONE (PN1) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 2496
70 IT (PPH1) BEFORE (RT@_II) BUT (CCB) 2471
71 THERE (RL) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 2457
72 HAD (VHD) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 2379
73 WEEK (NNT1) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 2348
74 AND (CC) BEFORE (RT@) THAT (CST) 2319
75 NOT (XX) BEFORE (RT) THE (AT) 2292
76 ME (PPIO1) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 2268
77 THAT (DD1) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 2205
78 A (AT1) BEFORE (RT@_CS) AND (CC) 2163
79 (NULL) BEFORE (RT) : (:) 2134
80 HAD (VHN) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 2130
81 EVER (RR) BEFORE (RT@_II) ! (!) 2128
82 TO (II) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 2086
83 YOU (PPY) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 2072
84 EVER (RR) BEFORE (RT) TO (TO) 2058
85 BEEN (VBN) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 2002
86 HAVE (VH0) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 1976
87 ONCE (RR) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 1956
88 USED (VVN) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 1843
89 CAME (VVD) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 1837
90 , (,) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 1810
91 EVER (RR) BEFORE (RT) IN (II) 1807
92 HIM (PPHO1) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 1793
93 NEVER (RR) BEFORE (RT) IN (II) 1787
94 FROM (II) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 1781
95 (NULL) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 1757
96 THAT (CST_DD1) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 1688
97 MONTHS (NNT2) BEFORE (RT) . (.) 1680
98 LIKE (II_VV0@) BEFORE (RT) , (,) 1662
99 AS (CSA) BEFORE (RT@_II_CS) AND (CC) 1637
100 NEVER (RR) BEFORE (RT) HAD (VHD) 1595