Similar words
devant
Worth distinguishing: devant (in front of) is spatial; auparavant (before) is temporal.
Similar in other languages
German
zuvor
zuvor is the German word for the same thing — both mean "before, previously."
Practice
1 What does auparavant mean?
before, previously
2 Fill the gap: ___, il travaillait à Lyon.
Full sentence: Auparavant, il travaillait à Lyon. (Previously, he worked in Lyon.)
3 Which fingerprint chart matches auparavant?
auparavant: neutral register, common frequency, general domain, neutral connotation.