How to use early in a sentence
40 example sentences · adjective, noun, adverb
Early means at a time in advance of the usual or expected event. Example: “You're early today! I don't usually see you before nine o'clock.”
Examples of early by meaning
adjectiveAt a time in advance of the usual or expected event.
- at eleven, we went for an early lunch; she began reading at an early age; his mother suffered an early death
- The early, intense onset of the monsoon on June 14th swelled rivers, washing away roads, bridges, hotels and even whole villages.2013 June 29, “High and wet”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 28
adjectiveArriving a time before expected; sooner than on time.
- You're early today! I don't usually see you before nine o'clock.
- The early guests sipped their punch and avoided each other's eyes.
adjectiveAfter but close to the start of a period of time.
- The play "Two Gentlemen of Verona" is one of Shakespeare's early works.
- Early results showed their winning 245 out of 300 seats in parliament. The main opponent locked up only 31 seats.
- 'Twas early June, the new grass was flourishing everywheres, the posies in the yard—peonies and such—in full bloom, the sun was shining, and the water of the bay was blue, with light green streaks where the shoal showed.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC
adjectiveIn the starting hours of the day.
- It's too early for this sort of thing. I'm not awake yet.
adjectiveHaving begun to occur; in its early stages.
- harvesting early peaches
nounA shift (scheduled work period) that takes place early in the day.
- On my first day on the watch after leaving the shoplifting squad I paraded on earlies but had completely forgotten to take my ear ring off.2007, Paul W. Browning, The Good Guys Wear Blue, page 193
adverbAt a time before expected; sooner than usual.
- We finished the project an hour sooner than scheduled, so we left early.
- I had children too early (in life), so my first baby arrived early.
- While warmer springs cause the early spider orchid to flower earlier in May, climate warming is also causing female bees to emerge from hibernation even earlier – confounding the orchid’s attempts to dupe the male bees.2018 April 5, Patrick Barkham, The Guardian
More sentences with early
- Early exposure to pet allergens and pet-related bacteria accustoms the body to allergens.From the entry accustom
- Two drivers have already gone into the pit this early in the race.From the entry pit
- She looks like she's in her early twenties, perhaps 21 or 22 years old?From the entry twenty
- A typical annual water level regime would include a gradual summer drawdown beginning in early May.From the entry regime
- I called you earlier, but all I got was the machine.From the entry machine
- The early mammals inherited the earth by surviving their saurian contemporaries.From the entry contemporary
- We published our findings following a thorough review of others' earlier reports.From the entry following
- The settlers were attacked early next morning by a scouting party.From the entry party
- It's not worth risking your life for the sake of getting there a few minutes earlier.From the entry sake
- I had an early dinner because the breakfast in this hostel is superb.From the entry breakfast
- As a child she had nothing to read but the legends of early Christian martyrs.From the entry legend
- Why don’t you come shopping for gifts with me, early before the Christmas rush?From the entry shop
- We needn’t go to sleep early because tomorrow morning school starts late.From the entry needn't
- After a series of early setbacks, her political campaign is in crisis mode.From the entry mode
- The schism between Sunnis and Shias happened quite early in Islamic history.From the entry schism
- And they're off! Whatsmyname takes an early lead, with Remember The Mane behind by a nose.From the entry off
- My boss surprised me into admitting I'd been leaving work early lately.From the entry into
- The early departure of her plane necessitated her waking up at 4 a.m.From the entry necessitate
- If I can get off early tomorrow, I'll give you a ride home.From the entry get off
- Kasparov sacked his queen early on in the game to gain a positional advantage against Kramnik.From the entry sac
- Kasparov's queen sac early in the game gained him a positional advantage against Kramnik.From the entry sac
- My boss surprised me into admitting I left work early last week.From the entry surprise
- The early development of Perl 6 was punctuated by a series of apocalypses by Larry Wall.From the entry apocalypse
- Many people book early in order to be sure of the best seats.From the entry sure
- Early physicists developed insightful methods for measuring the speed of light.From the entry speed of light
- The ruins of earlier buildings were used as fill for more recent construction.From the entry fill
- The bartender decided to comp their drinks to make up for the earlier incident.From the entry comp
Meaning of early
- adjective At a time in advance of the usual or expected event.
- adjective Arriving a time before expected; sooner than on time.
- adjective After but close to the start of a period of time.
Questions about early in a sentence
- How do you use early in a sentence?
- Early is used as an adjective, noun and adverb. For example: “You're early today! I don't usually see you before nine o'clock.”
- What is a short sentence with early?
- “harvesting early peaches”
- What does early mean?
- Early means at a time in advance of the usual or expected event.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: early (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “How to use early in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/early. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.