Prima di partire controllo il serbatoio e apro il cofano dell’auto.

Because prima di + infinitive is the normal pattern for before doing something when the subject stays the same.

So Prima di partire means before leaving / before setting off.

A useful comparison:

• Prima di partire, controllo... = Before leaving, I check...
• Prima che lui parta... = Before he leaves...

So if the subject changes, Italian often uses prima che + subjunctive instead.

Italian often drops subject pronouns when they are not needed, because the verb ending already shows who is doing the action.

Here:

• controllo = I check
• apro = I open

So io is understood automatically. You could say Io controllo..., but it would usually add emphasis, not basic meaning.

Italian uses the present tense for habitual actions and routine actions, just like English can in sentences such as Before I leave, I check the tank and open the hood.

So this sentence sounds like a regular procedure or habit. It is not necessarily happening right this second; it can describe what the speaker normally does before leaving.

Yes, in this context controllo means I check or I inspect.

This is a good example of a false friend. The Italian verb controllare can mean:

• to check
• to inspect
• sometimes to control, depending on context

With il serbatoio, the natural meaning is clearly I check the tank, not I control the tank.

Yes. They both mean I ...

They come from:

• controllare → controllo
• aprire → apro

So the sentence has one subject, understood as I, doing two actions joined by e:

• controllo il serbatoio
• e apro il cofano dell’auto

Because Italian normally uses definite articles with specific nouns much more regularly than English learners may expect.

Here the speaker means a specific tank and a specific hood, so il is natural:

• il serbatoio
• il cofano

In this sentence, leaving the articles out would be ungrammatical.

dell’auto means of the car.

It is made from:

• di = of
• l’auto = the car

So:

• di + l’auto → dell’auto

This is a normal Italian contraction of a preposition plus an article.

The apostrophe appears because auto begins with a vowel.

The full article is la, but before many feminine singular nouns beginning with a vowel, la becomes l’:

• la auto → l’auto

Then:

• di + l’auto → dell’auto

So the apostrophe here is not like the English possessive apostrophe. It marks elision, where a vowel has been dropped.

Auto is feminine in standard Italian.

That is why you say:

• l’auto
• questa auto
• un’auto nuova

It is feminine because it comes from automobile, which is feminine.

Here cofano means the hood of a car in American English, or the bonnet in British English.

So apro il cofano dell’auto means I open the hood/bonnet of the car.

Be careful not to confuse it with:

• bagagliaio = trunk in American English / boot in British English

Yes, a little. Italian word order is fairly flexible, especially with introductory phrases.

For example:

• Prima di partire, controllo il serbatoio e apro il cofano dell’auto.
• Controllo il serbatoio e apro il cofano dell’auto prima di partire.

Both are natural. The version with Prima di partire at the beginning puts the time frame first and sounds very clear and organized.