Breakdown of Prima di inviare l’email, controllo l’allegato.
Questions & Answers about Prima di inviare l’email, controllo l’allegato.
Because prima di + infinitive is the normal pattern when the subject is the same as in the main clause.
Here, the sentence means:
- Before sending the email, I check the attachment.
The person who sends the email and the person who checks the attachment are both I, so Italian uses:
- prima di + infinitive
- prima di inviare
If the subject changes, Italian usually uses prima che + subjunctive, for example:
- Prima che tu invii l’email, controllo l’allegato.
- Before you send the email, I check the attachment.
So in your sentence, prima di inviare is the natural choice.
It is in the infinitive because it follows prima di.
After many prepositions in Italian, a verb appears in the infinitive form. Here:
- prima di = before
- inviare = to send
So literally, this part is something like:
- before sending
- or more literally, before to send