Πριν βγουν έξω, άλλαξαν την πάνα και πήραν μαζί τους ένα καθαρό μπιμπερό.

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Breakdown of Πριν βγουν έξω, άλλαξαν την πάνα και πήραν μαζί τους ένα καθαρό μπιμπερό.

• μαζί: together
• πριν: before
• ένα: one

Questions & Answers about Πριν βγουν έξω, άλλαξαν την πάνα και πήραν μαζί τους ένα καθαρό μπιμπερό.

Why is it βγουν after πριν? I expected something like βγήκαν or βγαίνουν.

After πριν when Greek means before someone does/did something, it often uses the subjunctive form, sometimes with να and sometimes without it.

So:

• Πριν βγουν έξω = before they go/went out
• Πριν να βγουν έξω = also possible, with the same meaning

Here βγουν is the aorist subjunctive of βγαίνω. It does not mean present tense. It refers to the action as a whole: go out.

Compare:

• βγαίνουν = they are going out / they go out
• βγήκαν = they went out
• βγουν = (that) they go out / before they go out / when they go out, depending on context

So πριν βγουν έξω is the normal structure here.

Can Greek also say πριν να βγουν έξω? Why is να missing?

Yes, πριν να βγουν έξω is also correct.

In modern Greek, after πριν, both patterns are common:

• πριν βγουν έξω
• πριν να βγουν έξω

The version without να is very common, especially in everyday language. So the sentence is perfectly natural as written.

What does έξω add here? Doesn’t βγουν already mean go out?