ENGLISH
REFERENCE

go before

phr. v..
C1 Advanced Oxford Academic Formal

phr. v.. to be presented to a person or group in authority so they can make a decision about it.

phr. v.. to be submitted to a formal body, court, or authority for consideration or judgment; often used in legal or administrative contexts.


SIMPLE

The case goes before the judge tomorrow.

CONTEXTUAL

The new planning proposal must go before the local council before construction can begin.

COMPLEX

The controversial legislation is scheduled to go before the committee next week for a final round of amendments.

Particles
before
Separability
inseparable
Pattern
go + before + object
Usage

usually used with formal bodies like committees, boards, or courts as the object.

Teaching tip

contrast with the temporal meaning 'to happen earlier in time'; in this sense, it functions as a formal transitive phrasal verb for administrative processes.

Pitfall

The plan goes before to the board.The plan goes before the board.'before' acts as the particle/preposition here, so adding 'to' is redundant and grammatically incorrect.

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