Word
家 を 出る 前 に、 ドア に 鍵 を かけます。ie o deru mae ni, doa ni kagi o kakemasu.
Meaning
Before leaving the house, I lock the door.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of ie o deru mae ni, doa ni kagi o kakemasu.
をo
direct object particle
にni
time particle
家ie
house
ドアdoa
door
Questions & Answers about ie o deru mae ni, doa ni kagi o kakemasu.
Why is 出る in the plain form instead of 出ます?
Because 出る is modifying 前 in the pattern Verb + 前に, which means before doing ....
When a verb comes before a noun-like word such as 前, it normally appears in its plain form:
- 家を出る前に = before leaving the house
Using 出ます前に would be ungrammatical.
This is similar to how plain-form verbs are used before nouns in other structures too.
What does Vる + 前に mean?
Dictionary form verb + 前に means before doing something.
So:
- 家を出る前に = before leaving the house
A useful comparison:
- 食べる前に = before eating
- 寝る前に = before sleeping
- 行く前に = before going
The verb stays in the dictionary form because the action has not happened yet.
Why is there a に after 前?
