Breakdown of Abans de respondre, vull preguntar això a la professora.
això
this
voler
to want
a
to
abans de
before
Questions & Answers about Abans de respondre, vull preguntar això a la professora.
Why does the sentence start with Abans de respondre? What grammar pattern is that?
Abans de + infinitive is a very common Catalan pattern meaning before doing something.
So:
- abans = before
- de = of / to / before in this structure
- respondre = to answer
Together, Abans de respondre means Before answering.
This is similar to Catalan patterns like:
- abans de marxar = before leaving
- abans de parlar = before speaking
- abans de decidir = before deciding
In English, we often use before + -ing. In Catalan, the usual structure is abans de + infinitive.
Why is it respondre and not a conjugated form like responc or respon?
Because after abans de, Catalan normally uses the infinitive.
So:
- Abans de respondre = before answering
- not Abans de responc
- not Abans de respon
This is the same idea as in English:
- Before answering, ...
- not Before I answer in this exact structure
If you want to include a full clause with a subject, Catalan can do that too, but it is a different structure. In your sentence, respondre is infinitive because it follows abans de.