Avant de voter, nous délibérons sur les parties communes.

Because French usually uses avant de + infinitive when the subject is the same for both actions.

Here, the same people are doing both things:

• nous deliberate
• nous vote

So French says:

• Avant de voter, nous délibérons... = Before voting, we deliberate...

If the subject changes, French normally uses avant que + subjunctive instead:

• Avant que nous votions, le président explique la procédure.

So:

• same subject → avant de + infinitive
• different subject → avant que + subjunctive

Because after the preposition de in this structure, French uses the infinitive form of the verb.

So:

• avant de voter = before voting / before we vote

This is very common in French:

• avant de partir = before leaving
• avant de commencer = before starting
• avant de décider = before deciding

English often uses before + -ing, but French often uses avant de + infinitive.

Délibérons is the 1st person plural present indicative form of délibérer.

That means:

• infinitive: délibérer = to deliberate
• nous délibérons = we deliberate / we are deliberating

This ending -ons is the normal nous ending for many verbs in the present tense:

• nous parlons
• nous décidons
• nous votons
• nous délibérons

So the sentence is in the present tense.

Because délibérer sur is the usual construction for saying to deliberate on/about something.

So:

• délibérer sur une question
• délibérer sur un projet
• délibérer sur les parties communes

The preposition does not always match English exactly. Even though English might say about or on, French commonly uses sur here.

So it is best to learn this as a chunk:

• délibérer sur quelque chose

Grammatically:

• parties is a feminine plural noun
• communes is a feminine plural adjective
• les is the plural definite article

The adjective must agree with the noun, so:

• singular feminine: la partie commune
• plural feminine: les parties communes

French adjectives often come after the noun, so communes follows parties.

In context, this expression is often used in property, apartment-building, or co-ownership contexts for shared/common areas or shared parts.

Because Avant de voter is an introductory phrase at the beginning of the sentence.

The comma helps separate that opening time expression from the main clause:

• Avant de voter, nous délibérons...

This is very natural in written French. In some short sentences, punctuation can vary, but here the comma is standard and helps readability.

Nous is the standard, more formal way to say we.

So:

• nous délibérons = we deliberate

In everyday spoken French, people often use on instead of nous:

• Avant de voter, on délibère...

But in a formal, administrative, or institutional sentence, nous sounds more appropriate, especially because délibérer itself is quite formal.

So this sentence has a fairly formal tone.

Not really. Délibérer is correct and common in formal contexts, but it sounds administrative, legal, political, or procedural.

It is often used when a group discusses something officially before making a decision or a vote.

Depending on context, everyday French might use simpler verbs such as:

• discuter = to discuss
• réfléchir = to think about
• parler de = to talk about

So délibérer suggests something more structured than just casual discussion.

It can do either, depending on context.

Nous délibérons in the present can mean:

• a general procedure or rule: Before voting, we deliberate...
• something happening now: Before we vote, we are deliberating...

French uses the present tense in many cases where English might choose either:

• simple present
• present progressive

So the exact interpretation depends on the situation, not just the verb form.

Yes, but it is not exactly the same structure.

• Avant de voter uses a verb and means before voting
• Avant le vote uses a noun and means before the vote

Both can work, but avant de voter focuses more on the action, while avant le vote focuses more on the event itself.

So the original sentence is perfectly natural if you want to express the action of voting.