Used to refer to a time before the present or before another event being discussed.
“Previously, the library required a membership fee; now access is free for all residents.”
“The company previously operated only two locations before expanding nationwide.”
In Reading Part 3, "previously" helps signal a timeline shift, often used to contrast an earlier situation with a current one described later in the paragraph. This is useful for questions that ask how something has changed over time, since the word marks the "before" part of a before-and-after comparison. Keep track of the sequence of events whenever this word appears in a paragraph.
Synonyms: formerly, before, in the past