Breakdown of לפני שהאורחים יגיעו, אנחנו נסדר את הסלון ביחד.
Questions & Answers about לפני שהאורחים יגיעו, אנחנו נסדר את הסלון ביחד.
Because לפני by itself usually comes before a noun:
- לפני השיעור = before the lesson
- לפני הארוחה = before the meal
But here it is followed by a full clause: האורחים יגיעו = the guests will arrive.
So Hebrew uses לפני ש־ = before + clause:
- לפני שהאורחים יגיעו = before the guests arrive
The ש־ works like that in structure, even though English does not say it here.
That is a very common English-speaker question.
In Hebrew, when you talk about a future event after words like before, when, or after, it is very normal to use the future tense:
- לפני שהאורחים יגיעו = before the guests arrive
- כשהם יבואו = when they come
- אחרי שנאכל = after we eat
So Hebrew and English handle this differently:
- English: before they arrive
- Hebrew: לפני ש... יגיעו
It is one of those places where you should not translate word-for-word from English grammar.