Learn Hardcore Greek: Πριν να βγούμε από το σπίτι, η μαμά μου ρωτάει αν φοράμε γάντια, καπέλο και μπουφάν. - Before we go out of the house, my mom asks if we are wearing gloves, a hat, and a jacket.

πριν βγούμε (without να) is the standard form, especially in writing.
πριν να βγούμε is very common in speech, and in some varieties (e.g. Cypriot) it’s even more natural.

So:

Your sentence with πριν να βγούμε is fine in everyday language.
If you want to be more “textbook standard”, you can say πριν βγούμε από το σπίτι.

Note that with a noun you must use πριν από:

πριν από το φαγητό = before the meal

Why do we use βγούμε and not βγαίνουμε here?

The verb βγαίνω has two important stems:

βγαίνω (present/imperfective) – ongoing or repeated action
βγω (aorist/perfective) – one whole, complete event

βγούμε is the 1st person plural, aorist subjunctive of βγω.

With πριν, you normally talk about one complete event in the (relative) future, so you use the aorist subjunctive:

πριν (να) βγούμε ≈ “before we go out (once, at that point)”

If you said πριν (να) βγαίνουμε, it would suggest a continuous or repeated action (“before we keep going out / are going out”), which doesn’t fit this context.

How can I tell that βγούμε means “we” (first person plural)?

From the ending. The aorist subjunctive of βγω is:

(εγώ) βγω
(εσύ) βγεις
(αυτός/αυτή/αυτό) βγει
(εμείς) βγούμε
(εσείς) βγείτε
(αυτοί/αυτές/αυτά) βγουν(ε)

The ending -ουμε here marks “we”.

Greek usually drops the subject pronoun (εμείς) because the verb ending already shows who the subject is. So βγούμε alone means “we go out” (in this subjunctive form).

Why is ρωτάει used and not ζητάει? In English we just say “ask”.

Greek separates two ideas that English often expresses with “ask”:

ρωτάω / ρωτώ = to ask a question
- Η μαμά μου ρωτάει αν… = My mom asks (a question): if/whether…
ζητάω / ζητώ = to ask for / request / demand something
- Η μαμά μου ζητάει βοήθεια. = My mom is asking for help.

So here we’re talking about asking a question, so ρωτάει is the correct verb.

What is the role of αν here? Does it mean “if” or “whether”? Could we use εάν?

Here αν introduces an indirect yes/no question:

η μαμά μου ρωτάει αν φοράμε…
= my mom asks if / whether we are wearing…

So:

In English you can translate αν here as either “if” or “whether”.
In Greek, αν is the normal word to introduce an indirect question of this type.

About εάν:

εάν is basically a more formal version of αν and is mostly used in conditionals (“if something happens, then…”).
In everyday modern Greek, people almost always just say αν.
For indirect questions like this, you normally stick with αν, not εάν.

Why is φοράμε in the present tense? Why not something like θα φορέσουμε?

Imagine the direct question the mom asks:

Φοράτε γάντια, καπέλο και μπουφάν;
(“Are you wearing gloves, a hat and a jacket?” – right now, as you’re about to go out)

When we turn this into reported speech, Greek usually keeps the same tense:

Η μαμά μου ρωτάει αν φοράμε γάντια, καπέλο και μπουφάν.
= My mom asks if we are wearing …

The present φοράμε refers to the current moment (as you’re about to leave).

If you said αν θα φορέσουμε, it would mean: “if we will put them on (at some later point)”, focusing on a future action, which is a different meaning.

Why don’t we have articles for each clothing item? Why not τα γάντια, το καπέλο και το μπουφάν?

Both patterns are possible, but they feel slightly different:

…αν φοράμε γάντια, καπέλο και μπουφάν.
- More general, like “gloves, a hat and a jacket” with no particular ones in mind.
- With clothing, this is very natural in Greek:
  - φοράω καπέλο = I’m wearing a hat.
  - φοράω γάντια = I’m wearing gloves.
…αν φοράμε τα γάντια, το καπέλο και το μπουφάν.
- More specific: “the gloves, the hat and the jacket” that we both know about (maybe your usual winter set).

A few points:

Greek has no plural indefinite article (“some” is usually just bare plural), so γάντια on its own can mean “(some) gloves”.
In lists, especially of clothing or objects in a predictable set, Greek often drops the articles when speaking generally.

Why is it η μαμά μου and not μου η μαμά or something like that?

Possessive clitic pronouns (μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους) normally follow the noun:

η μαμά μου = my mom
το σπίτι μου = my house
ο φίλος σου = your friend

So η μαμά μου is the normal, neutral order.

μου η μαμά is only used in special, emphatic structures and would sound odd here.
If you strongly emphasize contrast, you might say something like η δικιά μου μαμά, but that adds the meaning “my own mom / my mom (as opposed to someone else’s)”.

What is the difference between η μαμά μου and η μητέρα μου?

They both mean “my mother”, but the tone is different:

η μαμά μου
- Informal, warm, everyday: “my mom / mum / mommy”.
- What children almost always say.
η μητέρα μου
- More formal, neutral, or distant: “my mother”.
- Common in written language, official contexts, or when you want to sound more serious.

Why is there no explicit “we” in the Greek sentence? How do we know it’s “we are wearing”?

Greek is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns are usually omitted because the verb ending already tells you who the subject is.

φοράμε has the ending -με, which marks 1st person plural (“we”).

So:

αν φοράμε γάντια… = “if we are wearing gloves…”

If you wanted to emphasize the subject, you could add εμείς:

αν εμείς φοράμε γάντια… = “if we (as opposed to someone else) are wearing gloves…”, but in neutral sentences it’s just αν φοράμε.

Why is ρωτάει in the present tense? Could it also be ρώτησε?

Yes, and the choice changes the meaning:

η μαμά μου ρωτάει αν…
- Present tense here gives a habitual meaning:
  - “My mom asks / always asks / usually asks if…”
- It can describe what typically happens each time before you go out.
η μαμά μου ρώτησε αν…
- Aorist: one specific past event:
  - “My mom asked if…” (on one particular occasion).

Greek present tense is often used for regular, repeated actions, so it fits perfectly with πριν να βγούμε από το σπίτι in a “this is what usually happens” sense.

Why do we say από το σπίτι with βγούμε?

With verbs of movement away from a place, Greek uses από (“from, out of”):

βγαίνω από το σπίτι = I go out of the house.
βγαίνω από το αυτοκίνητο = I get out of the car.
φεύγω από τη δουλειά = I leave work.

If you just say το σπίτι, it’s only “the house” with no idea of movement from it. The preposition από is needed to show you’re going out of that place.

I sometimes see ρωτά, ρωτάει and ρωτώ. Are these all the same verb?

Yes, they are forms of the same verb ρωτάω / ρωτώ (“to ask a question”):

In everyday speech, people use the -άω type with or without the final -ω / -ει:
- ρωτάω or ρωτώ (1st person sing.)
- ρωτάς (2nd person)
- ρωτάει or ρωτά (3rd person)
- ρωτάμε (1st pl.)
- ρωτάτε (2nd pl.)
- ρωτάνε / ρωτούν(ε) (3rd pl.)

In your sentence, ρωτάει and ρωτά would both be understood as the same form: “she asks”. Ρωτάει sounds slightly more colloquial; ρωτά and ρωτώ can sound a bit more “compact” or formal, especially in writing.