Πριν μπεις στο σπίτι, τίναξε λίγο τα αθλητικά σου, γιατί έχουν χώμα.

Before you come into the house, shake your sneakers a little, because they have dirt on them.

Breakdown of Πριν μπεις στο σπίτι, τίναξε λίγο τα αθλητικά σου, γιατί έχουν χώμα.

• το σπίτι: the home
• λίγο: a little
• έχω: to have
• σου: your

Questions & Answers about Πριν μπεις στο σπίτι, τίναξε λίγο τα αθλητικά σου, γιατί έχουν χώμα.

Why is it πριν μπεις and not something like πριν μπαίνεις?

Because after πριν in this kind of sentence, Greek normally uses the subjunctive, not the indicative present.

So πριν μπεις means before you enter / before you go in.

Also, μπεις is based on the aorist form, which is very common here because the action is seen as a single complete event: entering once. Greek is focusing on aspect more than tense here.

So:

• πριν μπεις = before you enter
• not πριν μπαίνεις, which would not be the normal form here

What exactly is μπεις?

Μπεις is the 2nd person singular aorist subjunctive of μπαίνω (to enter / go in).

Its subjunctive forms are:

• να μπω
• να μπεις
• να μπει
• να μπούμε
• να μπείτε
• να μπουν

In this sentence, the να is not expressed because after πριν, Greek often leaves it out.

So you can think of πριν μπεις as roughly before you enter, with μπεις meaning you enter in the subjunctive pattern.

Why is there no να after πριν?