Word
Prije nego dođu gosti, moramo pospremiti dnevni boravak.
Meaning
Before the guests come, we have to tidy up the living room.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Prije nego dođu gosti, moramo pospremiti dnevni boravak.
morati
to have to
doći
to come
dnevni boravak
living room
gost
guest
Questions & Answers about Prije nego dođu gosti, moramo pospremiti dnevni boravak.
Why is there a comma in Prije nego dođu gosti, moramo...?
Because the first part (Prije nego dođu gosti) is a dependent (subordinate) clause, and Croatian normally separates a subordinate clause from the main clause with a comma.
So: [subordinate clause], [main clause].
What does prije nego literally mean, and is it interchangeable with prije nego što?
Prije nego literally means before (that) / before introducing a clause.
You’ll also commonly see prije nego što (literally before that which). In modern Croatian, both are widely used and usually mean the same thing. In many contexts, što is optional:
- Prije nego dođu gosti...
- Prije nego što dođu gosti...
Both sound natural.
Why is the verb dođu used (not dolaze or doći)?