The adjective prior , coming from the Latin word praevius , is used to describe what happens first or appears ahead . The concept is linked to that which is preceding in time .
It is important to clarify that its official meaning, according to the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, defines it as an adjective used to describe an event that takes place before another. However, in everyday speech it is very common to also use it as a synonym for the adverb previously . In the next paragraph we will see some sentences in which these two options appear and then we will explain the nuances that differentiate them.
For example: “Before the start of the game, a young singer moved the audience by passionately singing the national anthem,” “In the municipality they explained to me that, to sell homemade food legally, you must complete several previous steps,” “ Yesterday, at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, an introductory meeting was held prior to the start of the school year .
In the first example sentence we can see its use as an adverb , since we could replace it with "previously to the game" or "before the game", or some adverbial construction such as "a few minutes before the game", etc. It is not an adjective because it does not modify any noun but rather gives us information about the moment in which the action took place, a function fulfilled by adverbs of time. It would be different to talk about the "event before" the game, referring to the interpretation of the national anthem by the young singer.
The second, on the other hand, shows us its use as an adjective: it tells us about "previous steps", that is, things prior to others. In this case, we can assure that the word previous is an adjective because it modifies the noun steps , in the same way as "difficult steps" or "extensive steps." It is very important to do this type of verification to know for sure if we are dealing with an adverb or an adjective, since their functions are really different.
The last example is a little more confusing than the previous two in terms of the function of the word previous . Before continuing, it is worth clarifying that in this case it also acts as an adverb, since it indicates the moment in time in which the introductory meeting takes place and we could say "before the beginning of the school year." However, given its apparent agreement in gender and number with the noun encounter (which is masculine and singular), it can lead us to confusion and make us think that it is actually an adjective: "the previous encounter." It would be an adjective in a sentence like the following: "The previous introductory meeting was very interesting," because here it could be replaced by "previous."
Take the case of a sports team that is preparing for the start of a world championship . In this framework, they play three friendly matches before the tournament. The third of these matches, therefore, represents the last challenge before the big competition.
Let's imagine that the Minister of Health of a country plans to resign from his position for personal reasons. Before announcing the decision, he meets with the president to talk about it and only after said talk does he publicly announce his resignation. It can be stated that, prior to the announcement , the official spoke with the president.
Let's now analyze a car trip . A family goes from point A to point D , passing through B and C in the middle of the journey. If D is the farthest place from A , and B and C are closer, travelers will pass through B and C prior to arriving at D.