It is grammatical correct to say "before the dawn"?

Question

i know it's correct to say "before dawn", but it's correct to put "the" in the middle? please :)

I've heard this expresion in the song evanescence - before the dawn

Answer 1

Yes it is grammatically correct to say "before dawn" or "before the dawn" The second phrase is sometimes used to mean a specific dawn.
By the way loufedalis twilight is at dusk, not dawn. That is, evening.

Answer 2

Before dawn is less clumsy and more correct. Though there is no real reason why you can't add "the". Might be better to say "before the dawn came" or whatever, if you wanted to use "the". And of course you need "the" in some circumstances, such as "before the dawn of time".

Songs get a lot of leeway where grammar is concerned!

Answer 3

i believe the term you want these days is "pre-dawn" it means the same thing if you are referring to the hours just before sunrise but unless you are referring to a time before a civilization was in a good period in it's history and in that case what you are saying is grammatically correct

Answer 4

Yes, either phrase is grammatically correct.

I think "before the dawn" sounds a bit more poetic.

Answer 5

Either. Depends on how specific you want to be.

You may just want to refer to it as 0430. I heard a woman call it "Oh-dawn-early" once. That sounded funny to me..

Answer 6

Before dawn is good, but what about "twilight"?

Answer 7

yeah i think it is.