Breakdown of Il a réparé le robinet avant de faire la vaisselle.
il
he
avoir
to have
faire la vaisselle
to do the dishes
réparer
to repair
Questions & Answers about Il a réparé le robinet avant de faire la vaisselle.
Why does French use the infinitive faire here when the English translation says 'doing'?
In English, we often use the '-ing' form after prepositions like 'before' (before doing). In French, prepositions like de are almost always followed by the infinitive. So, avant de faire functions like 'before to do' in English.
Could I just say avant faire la vaisselle without the de?
The tap was fixed in the past (a réparé). Why isn't the verb for doing the dishes in a past tense too?
What if he fixed the tap before someone else did the dishes? Would we still use avant de?