À l’avance vs En avance

These two French expressions look similar, but they don’t mean exactly the same thing. They both relate to the idea of doing something before the expected time, but the nuance is different.

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1. À l’avance – Ahead of time / Beforehand (planning, preparation)

Use à l’avance when you do something ahead of time on purpose.

It expresses planning, preparation, or anticipation. The idea is that you choose to act early in order to be prepared.

In English, we might say “in advance / ahead of time / beforehand.”

Examples:

Merci de me prévenir à l’avance.
Thank you for letting me know ahead of time.

J’ai acheté mes billets à l’avance.
I bought my tickets in advance.
Il faut réserver à l’avance.
You have to reserve ahead of time.
Elle prépare toujours ses cours à l’avance.
She always prepares her lessons beforehand.

2. En avance – Early (arriving sooner than expected)

Use en avance when someone or something is early compared to the scheduled or expected time.

It does not imply planning. It’s simply earlier than necessary. The main idea is that you end up being early (intentionally or not).

Examples:

Je suis en avance.
I’m early.
Le train est arrivé en avance.
The train arrived early.
Nous sommes partis trop tôt, alors nous sommes arrivés en avance.
We left too early, so we arrived ahead of time.
Elle est toujours en avance aux réunions.
She’s always early to meetings.

Comparison Chart

Expression	Meaning	Use
à l’avance	ahead of time beforehand	doing something early on purpose (planning, preparing)
en avance	early	arriving or happening earlier than expected