Pumirma si Pedro sa dokumento bago umalis.

Filipino often uses verb-first word order in ordinary sentences.

So:

• Pumirma si Pedro sa dokumento bago umalis.
• Literally: Signed Pedro on the document before leaving.
• Natural English: Pedro signed the document before leaving.

This verb-first pattern is very common in Filipino.
If you want, you can also say:

• Si Pedro ay pumirma sa dokumento bago umalis.

That version is also correct, but it is usually a bit more formal or more deliberate in tone.

Pumirma means signed.

It comes from the root pirma (signature or sign) plus the actor-focus infix -um-.

• root: pirma
• with -um-: pumirma

This verb form shows that the doer/actor is the topic of the sentence, which is why Pedro is marked with si.

In this sentence, pumirma is in the completed aspect, so it means the action of signing already happened.

Si is a marker used for a specific personal name when that person is the topic of the sentence.

So:

• si Pedro = Pedro as the focused/topic person

This is very common with names:

• Kumain si Ana. = Ana ate.
• Umalis si Marco. = Marco left.

If the topic were a common noun instead of a personal name, you would usually use ang instead:

• Pumirma ang lalaki. = The man signed.

In this sentence, sa dokumento means on the document or the document as the thing associated with the signing action.

The marker sa often covers meanings like:

• to
• in
• on
• at

With pumirma, Filipino commonly uses sa for what is being signed:

• Pumirma siya sa kontrata.
• Pumirma siya sa papel.

So sa dokumento is the normal pattern here.

Very roughly:

• si Pedro = the actor/topic
• sa dokumento = the document involved in the signing

Bago means before.

So:

• bago umalis = before leaving / before he left

This phrase introduces a time relationship. It tells you that the signing happened earlier than the leaving.

So the sequence is:

1. Pedro signed the document.
2. Pedro left.

The subject is understood from context.

In Pumirma si Pedro sa dokumento bago umalis, the natural interpretation is that Pedro is also the one who left.

Filipino often leaves out subjects when they are already clear.

So bago umalis can be understood as:

• before he left
• before leaving

where he refers to Pedro.

This is a very common point of confusion.

Umalis is the completed aspect form of alis (to leave), and by itself it often means left.

However, after words like bago, it can function more like an English non-finite expression:

• bago umalis = before leaving / before he left

Filipino does not match English grammar exactly here. The same verb form can work in ways that English would express with either:

• a past form: before he left
• or a gerund-like form: before leaving

So yes, it looks like a past form, but in this structure it is best understood through the whole phrase, not word by word.

That version is also possible, but it has a different focus.

Your sentence:

• Pumirma si Pedro sa dokumento bago umalis.

This is actor-focus:

• the sentence highlights Pedro as the actor/topic.

Another possible sentence:

• Pinirmahan ni Pedro ang dokumento bago umalis.

This is an object-focused pattern:

• the sentence highlights ang dokumento as the topic.

Very roughly:

• Pumirma si Pedro sa dokumento = Pedro signed the document
• Pinirmahan ni Pedro ang dokumento = The document was signed by Pedro / Pedro signed the document, but with the document as the grammatical focus

Both can translate similarly into English, but Filipino treats them differently.

Not very naturally.

A very literal breakdown would be:

• Pumirma = signed
• si Pedro = Pedro
• sa dokumento = on the document
• bago umalis = before leaving / before left

But English does not normally say Signed Pedro on the document before leaving.

So you should understand the sentence by structure and function, not by a strict word-for-word translation.

A natural English translation is:

• Pedro signed the document before leaving.

Yes. Filipino is somewhat flexible with word order, especially for time expressions.

For example, you may also hear:

• Bago umalis, pumirma si Pedro sa dokumento.

This means the same thing: Before leaving, Pedro signed the document.

The original version is still very natural:

• Pumirma si Pedro sa dokumento bago umalis.

Dokumento is a borrowed word, ultimately from Spanish, and it is completely normal in modern Filipino.

Many Filipino words used in everyday grammar are borrowed from Spanish or English. That is very common and natural.

So learners should not worry if a word does not look purely native. What matters is how it behaves in Filipino sentences.

In most normal contexts, people will understand that Pedro is the one who left.

That is because:

• Pedro is the only clearly named person in the sentence
• Filipino often omits repeated subjects when they are obvious

If you wanted to make it clear that someone else left, you would usually need to say that explicitly.

So the default reading is:

• Pedro signed the document before Pedro left.

A useful breakdown is:

• Pumirma — verb, actor-focus, completed aspect
• si Pedro — personal-name topic marker + name
• sa dokumento — prepositional phrase with sa
• bago umalis — time clause meaning before leaving

So the sentence pattern is basically:

• Verb + topic person + location/object phrase + time phrase

That is a very common Filipino sentence shape.