In advance/beforehand

[Maybo]

I'm trying to learn "in advance/beforehand". Which one is better for the following conversation?

John: Wow! You have set all the tables?
May: No, not me. Some staff members set the tables beforehand/in advance, and I only put the flowers on them.

 

[emsr2d2]

Both are possible but neither is necessary.

John: Wow! You set all the tables!
May: No, someone else set them. I just put the flowers on them!

 

[Tarheel]

Why would you need "beforehand"? Because it was done before people sat down to eat? (That's always the way it's done.)

 

[Maybo]

I was imagining that May was holding an activity. She booked a room for the activity. It was supposed that May set the tables.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I was imagining that May was holding an activity. She booked a room for the activity. It was supposed that May set the tables.

Still, beforehand and in advance don't really fit. Before what? In advance of what?

Someone asked if you set the table. The answer is simply no, someone else did.

 

[jutfrank]

Your example sentences are not very good ones, Maybo. When you use beforehand, make sure you say before 'what'. Perhaps you could look at a few more models to help give you a better sense of its use.

Also, don't treat beforehand/in advance as though they're interchangeable. They're quite different.

 

[Glizdka]

Not a teacher
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I think what you're looking for in your example is already, not beforehand or in advance.

I will add a bit of flavor to your example to, hopefully, help you see it.

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May works in a restaurant. Her duties are rather simple. She mops the floor, sets the tables, and decorates them. John, May's friend, who one day came around to visit her at work to see how she was doing, seeing all the 32 tables set and decorated with beautiful flowers, said, "Wow, May, have you set all the tables?", to which May replied, "No, not me. The tables had already been set by some other employees when I got here. I only had to put the flowers on them".

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I think you need to try to find a different example for beforehand or in advance.

 

[emsr2d2]

In the context you provided, the words might work when uttered before the setting of the tables takes place.

A: The talk starts at 7pm.
B: OK. Can I do anything useful?
A: Well, the tables need to be set beforehand.
B: Great. I can do that.

Note that "set the table" is usually used in the context of preparing a table for a meal - putting out placemats, cutlery, glasses etc. I don't think that's the kind of thing you have in mind for an "activity".