Word
Ik lees de handleiding voordat ik begin.
Meaning
I read the manual before I begin.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Ik lees de handleiding voordat ik begin.
ik
I
lezen
to read
beginnen
to begin
de handleiding
the manual
Questions & Answers about Ik lees de handleiding voordat ik begin.
Does voordat change the word order here?
Yes! The word voordat (before) introduces a subclause, which means the verb is pushed to the very end. It might look like the normal subject-verb order because there are only two words in ik begin. However, if you added a word like echt (really), it would go before the verb: ... voordat ik echt begin.
Can I use voor instead of voordat?
In everyday spoken Dutch, people often shorten it to voor. But strictly speaking, voor is a preposition used before nouns (like voor de lunch - before lunch). Because you are introducing a new clause with a subject and a verb (ik begin), the correct word to use is the conjunction voordat.
What does the word handleiding literally mean?
It is a combination of hand (hand) and leiding (guidance or direction, from the verb leiden - to lead). So it literally means hand-guidance, which makes perfect sense for a manual or instruction guide!
Can I flip this and start the sentence with voordat?