What is the meaning of the preposition “back” in the following sentence?

Question

We learned how to test-drive the repository back in Section x.x, Creating and Reading Records, on page xxx.

Robusto · Accepted Answer · 2011-01-10 04:29:20Z

up vote 2 down vote accepted

Back is not a preposition here, it is an adverb. It means at a previous time, as JSBangs said.

answered Jan 10 '11 at 4:29

Robusto
82.7k12158318

Thanks for your answering! I am really confused about the structure of the sentence, now I get it clear! – Liu Jan 10 '11 at 4:55

JSBձոգչ · Answer 2 · 2011-01-10 04:22:36Z

up vote 3 down vote

This is a colloquial way of saying, We learned how to test-drive the repository in the previous section x.x, Creating and Reading Records.

answered Jan 10 '11 at 4:22

JSBձոգչ
32.4k291163

Thanks for your answering! – Liu Jan 10 '11 at 4:55

2 Answers