sigoto no mae ni koohii wo nomimasu.

I drink coffee before work.

Breakdown of sigoto no mae ni koohii wo nomimasu.

• を: direct object particle
• 飲のむ: to drink
• の: possessive case particle
• コーヒー: coffee
• 仕事しごと: work
• 前まえ に: in front of

Questions & Answers about sigoto no mae ni koohii wo nomimasu.

Why is there no word for “I” in the sentence?

Japanese often leaves out the subject when it is obvious from context.

In English, you must say “I drink coffee before work.”
In Japanese, if it’s clear you are talking about yourself, you just say:

• 仕事の前にコーヒーを飲みます。 – (I) drink coffee before work.

The subject could be I, you, he/she, we, etc. Context decides.
If you really want to say I, you can add it:

• 私は仕事の前にコーヒーを飲みます。

But in natural Japanese, 私は is often left out when it’s redundant.

What exactly does の do in 仕事の前に?

The particle の links nouns. Here it makes 仕事 (work) modify 前 (before/front), forming one noun phrase:

• 仕事の前 = the time before work / before-work time

So the structure is:

• 仕事 (work)
• の (linking/“of”)
• 前 (before)
• に (particle marking the point in time)

Literally it’s like “at the before of work”, which naturally becomes “before work” in English.

Why do we need に after 前? What does 前に mean as a unit?

The particle に marks:

• a point in time (at 7:00, on Monday, before X)
• a destination or target (go to, give to, etc.)

Here, 前に is 前 (before) + に (at):

• 仕事の前に = at the time before work → before work

You generally:

• use に after time expressions that are a specific point or boundary in time:
  • 7時に – at 7 o’clock
  • 仕事の前に – before work
  • 仕事の後に – after work

Without に, 仕事の前 is just a noun phrase (“the time before work”).
With に, it becomes an adverbial time expression describing when you drink coffee.

Could I say 仕事の前で instead of 仕事の前に?

Normally, no. The natural choice here is 前に, not 前で.

• 前に with time = before (in time)
• 前で with place = in front of (a physical location)

Examples:

• 仕事の前にコーヒーを飲みます。
  → I drink coffee before work. (time)

• 会社の前でコーヒーを飲みます。
  → I drink coffee in front of the company (building). (place)

So 前に = temporal “before”; 前で = spatial “in front of”.

What does を do after コーヒー? Why not use が?

を marks the direct object of an action — the thing that the verb directly acts on.

• コーヒーを飲みます。
  → [I] drink coffee. (coffee is what is being drunk)

If you said コーヒーが飲みます, it would be ungrammatical in standard Japanese, because が usually marks the subject, and coffee is not doing the drinking.

Very roughly:

• Xを飲みます。 – [I] drink X. (X = direct object)
• Xが飲みたいです。 – I want to drink X. (here X = the thing you want; the grammar pattern is different)

Can I change the word order, like コーヒーを仕事の前に飲みます? Does the meaning change?

Yes, you can move phrases around as long as they stay before the verb. The verb usually comes last.

All of these are grammatical and mean essentially the same:

• 仕事の前にコーヒーを飲みます。
• コーヒーを仕事の前に飲みます。

Nuance:

• Putting 仕事の前に first slightly emphasizes “as for the time before work”.
• Putting コーヒーを first slightly emphasizes “as for coffee”.

But in everyday conversation, the difference is subtle, and both are natural.

What form is 飲みます, and how is it different from 飲む?

飲みます is the polite non-past form (ます-form) of the verb 飲む (to drink).

Basic forms:

• 飲む – dictionary/plain form (casual)
• 飲みます – polite form

Usage:

• 飲む – with friends, family, people of equal or lower status (casual speech).
• 飲みます – in most public situations, with strangers, at work, in class, etc. (polite speech).

So:

• 仕事の前にコーヒーを飲む。 – casual
• 仕事の前にコーヒーを飲みます。 – polite (the one in your sentence)

Does 飲みます mean “I drink”, “I will drink”, or “I usually drink”?

Japanese non-past form (飲む / 飲みます) covers several English tenses. The exact nuance comes from context.

仕事の前にコーヒーを飲みます。 can mean:

• habit/routine: I (usually) drink coffee before work.
• simple statement of general truth: I drink coffee before work.
• near future plan (with the right context): I’ll drink coffee before work (today).

On its own, this sentence is most naturally understood as a habit or regular action.

Why is コーヒー written in katakana?

Katakana is mainly used for:

• loanwords (words borrowed from other languages)
• some onomatopoeia, technical terms, emphasis, etc.

コーヒー comes from English coffee, so it is written in katakana:

• コーヒー (katakana) – standard, correct spelling.
• こーひー (hiragana) – possible but looks childish or stylistic.
• There’s also an older kanji spelling 珈琲, but it’s rare and feels old-fashioned or decorative.

So in normal modern Japanese, コーヒー in katakana is the natural form.

How can I say “a cup of coffee before work” or “I always drink coffee before work”?

You add counters or adverbs.

1. “A cup of coffee before work.”

Use 一杯（いっぱい） = one cup (for drinks):

• 仕事の前にコーヒーを一杯飲みます。
  → I drink a cup of coffee before work.

Word order can also be:

• 仕事の前に一杯コーヒーを飲みます。

2. “I always/often drink coffee before work.”

Add adverbs like いつも (always) or よく (often):

• いつも仕事の前にコーヒーを飲みます。
  → I always drink coffee before work.

• よく仕事の前にコーヒーを飲みます。
  → I often drink coffee before work.