Ég hafði prentað skjalið áður en prentarinn bilaði.

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Breakdown of Ég hafði prentað skjalið áður en prentarinn bilaði.

• hafa: to have
• áður en: before
• prenta: to print

Questions & Answers about Ég hafði prentað skjalið áður en prentarinn bilaði.

What tense is hafði prentað, and why is it used here?

It’s the past perfect: auxiliary hafa in past (hafði) + the verb’s supine (prentað). Icelandic uses this to show one past event was completed before another past event. Here, printing finished before the printer broke down.

Could I just use the simple past (prentaði) instead of hafði prentað?

Yes: Ég prentaði skjalið áður en prentarinn bilaði is grammatical. The past perfect (hafði prentað) makes the sequence explicit and feels more natural when you want to stress completion before the other past event.

What does áður en do? Can I use áður by itself?

• áður en introduces a clause meaning “before [something happens/happened].”
• áður alone is an adverb meaning “earlier/previously.”
  Examples:
• Clause: Ég hafði prentað skjalið áður en prentarinn bilaði.
• Adverb only: Ég hafði prentað skjalið áður. (no following clause)

Does en here mean “but”?

Not here. In áður en, en is part of a fixed expression meaning “before.” Think of it as a set phrase.