قبل أن تأتي الضيفة، تنظف أختي الغرفة وترتب المائدة هناك.

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Breakdown of قبل أن تأتي الضيفة، تنظف أختي الغرفة وترتب المائدة هناك.

• هناك: there
• و: and
• أن: (subordinating particle)

Questions & Answers about قبل أن تأتي الضيفة، تنظف أختي الغرفة وترتب المائدة هناك.

What does قبل أن mean, and why are both words used?

قبل means before. When Arabic wants to say before + a whole clause with a verb, it commonly uses قبل أن + a present-tense verb.

So:

• قبل أن تأتي الضيفة = before the guest comes

If قبل were followed by just a noun, أن would not be needed.

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Why is the verb تأتي used after أن?

Because أن is a particle that normally introduces a verb clause and puts the following present-tense verb into the subjunctive.

In fully vocalized Arabic, this would be read as تأتيَ. In ordinary unvocalized writing, that change is often not visible, so learners just see تأتي.

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How do we know تأتي means the guest comes and not you come?

That is a very common learner question, because تأتي can look ambiguous in unvocalized Arabic.

It can represent either:

• she comes
• you (masculine singular) come

Here, the following noun الضيفة tells you the subject is the female guest, so the meaning is she comes.

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