Learn Hardcore Japanese: zyugyou ga hazimarumae ni watasi ha kyousitu no seki ni suwatte hon wo yomimasu. - Before class starts, I sit in my seat in the classroom and read a book.

Word

授業じゅぎょう　が　始はじまる前まえ　に　私わたし　は　教室きょうしつ　の　席せき　に　座すわって　本ほん　を　読よみます。jugyou ga hajimarumae ni watashi wa kyoushitsu no seki ni suwatte hon o yomimasu.

Meaning

Before class starts, I sit in my seat in the classroom and read a book.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Japanese

Lesson

Lesson 17

Breakdown of jugyou ga hajimarumae ni watashi wa kyoushitsu no seki ni suwatte hon o yomimasu.

direct object particle

Questions & Answers about jugyou ga hajimarumae ni watashi wa kyoushitsu no seki ni suwatte hon o yomimasu.

Why is the particle が used after 授業 in 授業が始まる前に?

Because 授業 is the grammatical subject of the intransitive verb 始まる (“to begin”). The particle が marks that subject. If you used は instead, you’d be putting extra topical or contrastive emphasis on “the class,” which isn’t needed here—you simply want to say “before the class begins.”

Why do we attach に to 前 in 始まる前に?

前に is a fixed temporal expression meaning “before ….” To make “before” into a time‐marking adverb, you add に. Without に, 始まる前 is merely a noun phrase (“the time before it begins”) and can’t function grammatically as a time adverbial.

Why is 始まる in the dictionary (plain non-past) form rather than the past or –て form before 前に?

When you want to express “before doing X,” you attach 前に to the plain non-past or plain past form of the verb. The non-past (始まる前に) means “before it begins,” which fits a future or habitual context. The past form (始まった前に) would awkwardly mean “before it had begun.” The –て form isn’t used with 前に.

I see two に particles—one after 前 and one after 席. Aren’t they the same?