How to pronounce before

Normally, we pronounce the with a short sound (like “thuh”). But when the comes before a vowel sound, we pronounce it as a long “thee”. When we wish to place emphasis on a particular word, we can use “emphatic the” [thee], whether or not the word begins with a consonant or vowel sound.

Here “once” starts with a vowel in spelling, but starts with a consonant sound (“wuns”). So “The Once” is “thuh wuns”. Similarly “United” starts with a consonant sound (a Y sound). So “the” is “thuh” before it, except in sentences where the word “The” is stressed.

: at a time preceding (something or someone) : earlier than (something or someone) US —used to describe a time earlier than a specified hour. : preceding (something or someone) in order or in a series. before. conjunction.