In activity 7, we are thinking about when to use antes de and antes de que which both mean “before”. Do you know how they differ? Antes de is always followed by an infinitive and it is used when there is no change of subject in a sentence:
- antes de llegar, ¡no sabía nada de la sorpresa!
- he llamado a mi novio por teléfono antes de salir por la noche
If there is a change of subject, you need to use antes de que which must be followed by the subjunctive:
- regresamos a casa antes de que empiece a llover
- regresamos a casa antes de que empezara a llover
- antes de que lleguen, vamos a comer
- antes de que salgamos, tendrás que hacer la maleta
Look carefully at the different tenses used in the different examples. Now it’s over to you! Try to come up with a few different sentences to practise using antes de and antes de que. Remember that if you use a past tense in your first clause, the verb that follows antes de que should be in the imperfect subjunctive. There’s quite a lot to think about here so take your time and then share your examples. ¡Esperamos vuestros comentarios!