Soon versus early

I've always felt that it was a question of "before" and "after".

Soon = in or after a short time.

Early = happening or done before the usual or expected time.

I don't evny you having to teach or explain this...

Thanks John.

Using concept of after and before is a good idea to make students understand the difference.

But how can we justify the following sentence

I arrived at the party sooner than Jack.

Thanks

hrsaneiUsing concept of after and before is a good idea to make students understand the difference.
But how can we justify the following sentence
I arrived at the party sooner than Jack. Here, 'sooner' means exactly the same as 'earlier' and 'before'. But I would guess that 'sooner' is the least likely of the three to be used in that s

Thanks for your input.

I know soon means the same as before in that context, that's the part which makes it complicated.

In the example I cited, sooner is the best option and is more natural to a native speaker's ear.

Longman dictionary has provided the same example for soon.(