from typing import Counter


def adjectives_before(tokens, target_word):
    """Return a counter of the adjectives which precede the target_word."""
    adjectives = []
    last_word = ''
    last_tag = ''
    target_word = target_word.lower()
    for word, tag in tokens:
        if word.lower() == target_word and last_tag.startswith('JJ'):
            adjectives.append(last_word.lower())
        last_word = word
        last_tag = tag
    return Counter(adjectives)