student asking question

How come "before" was used here? It seems to be okay without "before." Is "before" necessary?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

"Before" was used here to emphasize that the event of fighting in a cold war has already happened in the past. "Before" is not necessary here, as the past tense verb "fought" implies that this event happened in the past, however, "before" can also help imply that this event was important in doing something. In the case of the video, "before" is used to imply that it was important that America won in the cold war against the Soviet Union.

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