El autobús llegó antes de tiempo.

Spanish often uses the definite article more than English does. El autobús means the bus, referring to a specific bus in the situation.

You could say just autobús in some contexts, but in a full sentence like this, el autobús sounds natural and complete.

Also, autobús is a masculine noun, so it takes el, not la.

Llegó is the third person singular preterite form of llegar, meaning to arrive.

So:

• llegar = to arrive
• llegó = he arrived / she arrived / it arrived

In this sentence, it means the bus arrived.

The preterite is used here because it describes a completed action in the past: the arrival happened and is finished.

Llegó and llegaba are both past forms, but they are used differently.

• llegó = arrived, a completed event
• llegaba = was arriving / used to arrive, more ongoing or backgrounded

In El autobús llegó antes de tiempo, the speaker is talking about one completed event: the bus arrived. That is why llegó is the natural choice.

If you said llegaba, it would sound like you were describing the situation in progress or giving background, not simply stating the completed arrival.

The accent mark in llegó shows both pronunciation and meaning.

• llego = I arrive
• llegó = he/she/it arrived

So the accent helps distinguish the past tense form from the present tense first-person form.

It also tells you the stress goes on the last syllable: lle-GÓ.

Literally, antes de tiempo means before time.

In natural English, it usually means:

• early
• ahead of schedule
• before the expected time

So the phrase does not mean that time itself came later; it means the bus arrived earlier than expected or scheduled.

Because antes normally links to what comes after it with de.

So:

• antes de las ocho = before eight
• antes del almuerzo = before lunch
• antes de tiempo = before time / early

This is just the standard structure in Spanish: antes de + noun / phrase.

Yes, you could, and it would be grammatically correct.

• llegó temprano = arrived early
• llegó antes de tiempo = arrived ahead of time / before the expected time

The difference is slight:

• temprano is a general word for early
• antes de tiempo more strongly suggests earlier than planned, scheduled, or expected

So both work, but antes de tiempo has a more specific sense of being ahead of the expected time.

Yes, autobús is a standard and very common word in Spain.

In everyday speech, people in Spain also often say bus, especially informally.

A useful note for English speakers:

• In Spain, autobús is normal.
• In many parts of Latin America, other words may also be common, such as camión, guagua, or colectivo, depending on the country.

So for Spain, autobús is a safe and correct choice.

Because the subject is singular: El autobús.

So the verb must also be singular:

• El autobús llegó = The bus arrived

If the subject were plural, the verb would change:

• Los autobuses llegaron = The buses arrived

A simple pronunciation guide is:

el ow-toh-BOOS yeh-GOH AN-tes deh tee-EM-poh

A few key points for a native English speaker:

• autobús stress on the last syllable: au-to-BÚS
• ll in most of Spain is usually pronounced like y in modern speech, so llegó sounds roughly like ye-GO
• antes has stress on AN
• tiempo is two syllables: TIEM-po

The whole sentence flows smoothly: El autobús llegó antes de tiempo.

Yes. It is a general phrase and can be used with many things, not just transport.

For example:

• Llegué antes de tiempo. = I arrived early.
• Terminó antes de tiempo. = He/She finished ahead of time.
• Salieron antes de tiempo. = They left early.

So once you learn this phrase, you can reuse it in many everyday situations.

Yes. In Spain, bus is commonly used in informal speech, and El bus llegó antes de tiempo would sound natural.

That said:

• el autobús = slightly more standard/full form
• el bus = shorter and more conversational

Both are correct in Spain.