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Tu paies la pénalité avant de résilier.

Tu paies la pénalité avant de résilier.
You pay the penalty before terminating.
From Lesson 222:Provided that (à condition que)·French

Questions & Answers about Tu paies la pénalité avant de résilier.

Why do we use "avant de" plus the infinitive here instead of "avant que" with the subjunctive?
Because the subject is the same for both actions! You (tu) are the one paying and the one terminating. When the subject doesn't change, French uses avant de plus the infinitive (résilier). You generally use subjunctive conjunctions like avant que or à condition que when a new subject is introduced.
Wait, shouldn't the "tu" form of "payer" be "payes"?
Both tu paies and tu payes are perfectly correct! For verbs ending in -ayer, you have the option to change the y to an i before a silent ending. The form with the i is just a bit more common in written French.
I see "terminating" ends in "-ing" in English. Why don't we use the French "-ant" form here?
In English, we use the "-ing" form after prepositions (like "before terminating"). However, the French rule dictates that prepositions (except en) must be followed by the infinitive form of a verb. That is why we use the infinitive résilier after avant de.
Is "résilier" a false friend? It looks a bit like "resign".
It is! Résilier means to terminate or cancel a contract, lease, or subscription. If you want to talk about resigning from a job, you would use the verb démissionner.

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