earlier than

/ˈɜːliər ðæn/

phrase★Beginner— happening before a specified time

general

Happening or occurring before a specified time or event.

The meeting started earlier than usual today.

The meeting began before its usual time today.

He finished his work earlier than his colleagues.

He completed his work before his colleagues did.

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This phrase is commonly used to compare the timing of events or actions.

Collocations

earlier than expectedsooner than anticipatedearlier than usualbefore the typical time

at an earlier time in the day or event

at an earlier point in the current week

Use 'earlier than' to compare the timing of events or actions, such as 'She arrived earlier than planned.'

'Earlier than' is used to indicate that something happened before a specified time or event.

Derived from the comparative form of 'early' combined with the preposition 'than' to indicate a temporal comparison.

This phrase is used to compare the timing of two events or actions, emphasizing that one occurred before the other.

earlier

happening before the usual or expected time

adjective

than

used to introduce the second element in a comparison

preposition

English Dictionary