before vs now

before

adv
  • At an earlier time. 

  • In advance. 

  • At the front end. 

conj
  • Rather or sooner than. 

  • In advance of the time when. 

prep
  • In front of, according to a formal system of ordering items. 

  • In store for, in the future of (someone). 

  • At a higher or greater position than, in a ranking. 

  • Under consideration, judgment, authority of (someone). 

  • In the presence of. 

  • In front of in space. 

  • Earlier than (in time). 

now

adv
  • Differently from the immediate past; differently from a more remote past or a possible future; differently from all other times. 

  • Used to indicate a context of urgency. 

  • Sometimes; occasionally. 

  • Used to address a switching side, or sharp change in attitude from before. (In this usage, now is usually emphasized). 

  • At the present time. 

  • Used to introduce a point, a qualification of what has previously been said, a remonstration or a rebuke. 

  • At the time reached within a narration. 

noun
  • The state of not paying attention to the future or the past. 

  • The present time. 

  • A particular instant in time, as perceived at that instant. 

intj
  • Indicates a signal to begin. 

conj
  • Since, because, in light of the fact; often with that. 

adj
  • Fashionable; popular; up to date; current. 

  • Present; current. 

How often have the words before and now occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )