Earlier I did ...

[Rachel Adams]

Hello.

This is my friend's sentence. To correct it I changed into two examples below. (My friend didn't mind)

1.''Earlier I go to a fitness club, before my studies''. Can I use ''earlier'' in the second and third examples?
''Earlier I used to go to a fitness club before I started my studies''.
''Earlier I used to go to a finess club before starting my studies''.

 

[GoesStation]

No. Your second sentence will be okay if you remove "earlier". It's redundant because "I used to" by itself establishes the time frame.

 

[emsr2d2]

Hello.

This is my friend's sentence. To correct it, I changed into two examples below. (My friend didn't mind.)

1.''Earlier I go to a fitness club, before my studies''. Can I use ''earlier'' in the second and third examples?

2. ''[STRIKE]Earlier[/STRIKE] I used to go to a fitness club before I started my studies''.
3. ''[STRIKE]Earlier[/STRIKE] I used to go to a fitness club before starting my studies''.

See my corrections above.

In sentences where "Earlier" is used correctly at the start, there would be a comma after it. For example, "Earlier, I played tennis".

 

[Rachel Adams]

See my corrections above.

In sentences where "Earlier" is used correctly at the start, there would be a comma after it. For example, "Earlier, I played tennis".

I might be wrong but I think ''earlier'' and ''before'' shoudn't be used together either. I changed the original sentence into ''Earlier, I went to a fitness club. That was before my studies/before starting my studies''.

 

[emsr2d2]

I don't agree with that. I have no problem with "Earlier, I went to the gym before I started studying".

 

[Rachel Adams]

I don't agree with that. I have no problem with "Earlier, I went to the gym before I started studying".

I see that you used ''before I started studying''. ''Before my studies'' and ''before starting my studies'' don't sound natural?

 

[emsr2d2]

I see that you used ''before I started studying''. ''Before my studies'' and ''before starting my studies'' don't sound natural?

"before my studies" certainly sounds odd there. I'd use "my studies" to refer to a much longer period of time, perhaps the entire duration of a course. "before starting my studies" sounds as if you meant before embarking upon a course of study.

It's generally most natural to use the verb "study".

 

[GoesStation]

I see that you used ''before I started studying''. ''Before my studies'' and ''before starting my studies'' don't sound natural?

"Studies" doesn't mean "studying". It's the wrong word for the context.

 

[Rachel Adams]

"Studies" doesn't mean "studying". It's the wrong word for the context.

I mean before embarking upon a course of study as emsr2d2 said.

 

[GoesStation]

I mean before embarking upon a course of study as emsr2d2 said.

I used to go to a fitness club before I started my studies.

The problem with the quoted sentence is that, after reading the first clause, the reader expects you to describe a habitual action in the second. For example, I used to go to a fitness club every morning before school.

Oddly, it works OK if you reverse them. This is an example of idiomatic usage that might defy explanation.

 

[emsr2d2]

I mean before embarking upon a course of study as emsr2d2 said.

Really? That's a surprise! The two things don't really go together. Saying that you went to a fitness club just before starting a four-year degree (for example) is very odd. Can you see why? Here are natural examples:

- I went to the gym before I started studying for tomorrow's exam.
- I worked as a waitress for four years before following my dream and resuming my studies.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Really? That's a surprise! The two things don't really go together. Saying that you went to a fitness club just before starting a four-year degree (for example) is very odd. Can you see why? Here are natural examples:

- I went to the gym before I started studying for tomorrow's exam.
- I worked as a waitress for four years before following my dream and resuming my studies.

I am not speaking about myself . They may sound odd, but are they correct grammatically as written?

 

[emsr2d2]

It doesn't matter who you're talking about. The answer, for me, is still no.