Hello everybody!

[hamplovae]

Hello, my name is Eve and I am a student and also a teacher of English. I was asked by one of my student recently if the words ´soon ´and ´early´are synonyms. I was quite sure about the answer but I had some difficulties with the explanation.Could you please give the exact explanation?

Thank you

Eve

[MikeNewYork]

Hello, my name is Eve and I am a student and also a teacher of English. I was asked by one of my student recently if the words ´soon ´and ´early´are synonyms. I was quite sure about the answer but I had some difficulties with the explanation.Could you please give the exact explanation?

Thank you

Eve

Leaving for the moment that "early" can be an adjective as well as an adverb, "early" and "soon" don't often have the same meaning. There is one use of "soon" that means "early". "Winter came soon/early this year." A more common use is "Winter came too soon/early this year.

soon = in the near future

early = close to the beginning of something or at a time before the usual or expected time.

The overlap occurs only when something that should have been in the future happens before it was expected.

He will be coming to the party soon. (in the near future)
He will be coming to the party early. (before the scheduled time or near the beginning of the party)