לפני הטיח שמנו מסקינג טייפ על הריצוף.

before

Breakdown of לפני הטיח שמנו מסקינג טייפ על הריצוף.

• על: on
• לשים: to put
• ריצוף: flooring

Questions & Answers about לפני הטיח שמנו מסקינג טייפ על הריצוף.

How would you pronounce the whole sentence?

A natural pronunciation is:

lifnei ha-tiaḥ samnu masking teyp al ha-ritzuf

A few notes:

• לפני = lifnei
• הטיח = ha-tiaḥ or ha-tiyakh depending on how people pronounce ח
• שמנו = samnu
• מסקינג טייפ = masking teyp
• על הריצוף = al ha-ritzuf

So the stress is roughly:

lifNEI haTIaḥ SAMnu MASKing teyp al ha-riTZUF

What does לפני mean here exactly?

Here לפני means before.

That is one of the most common uses of לפני. It can also mean in front of, so learners often wonder which meaning is intended.

The meaning depends on context:

• לפני הטיח = before the plastering / before the plaster
• לפני הבית = in front of the house

In this sentence, because the context is renovation or construction, before is clearly the right meaning.

Why is it הטיח and not just טיח?