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A cabina foi limpa pelo funcionário antes de eu entrar.

A cabina foi limpa pelo funcionário antes de eu entrar.
The booth was cleaned by the employee before I entered.
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Questions & Answers about A cabina foi limpa pelo funcionário antes de eu entrar.

Why is this sentence in the passive voice and how is it formed in Portuguese?

It’s passive because the focus is on a cabina (the cabin) rather than on who cleaned it. In Portuguese the true passive is formed with:

  1. A conjugated form of ser (here foi = “was”)
  2. A past participle that agrees in gender and number with the subject (here limpa to match a cabina).
    So A cabina foi limpa literally means “The cabin was cleaned.”
Why is the past participle limpa in its feminine form?
In a Portuguese true‐passive construction the past participle behaves like an adjective and must agree with the subject. Since a cabina is feminine singular, we use limpa (not limpo).
What does pelo funcionário mean and why do we use pelo instead of por o or por um?
Pelo is the contraction of por + o, so pelo funcionário means “by the employee.” We use the definite article o because it refers to a specific employee already known or implied. If it were any employee, you could say por um funcionário (“by an employee”).
What is the difference between foi limpa and estava limpa?
  • foi limpa is the preterite passive of ser
    • past participle, indicating that someone performed the action of cleaning at a definite time in the past.
  • estava limpa is the imperfect of estar, describing a state or condition (“the cabin was clean”) without specifying who cleaned it or when.
Why is the subordinate clause introduced with antes de eu entrar? Could I say antes que eu entre or antes de entrar?

Portuguese offers two common ways to express “before”:

  1. antes de
    • infinitive
      • If the subject of the infinitive is different from the main clause (here, eu vs. the cabin/employee), you use the personal infinitive and explicitly include eu: antes de eu entrar.
      • If you omit the subject because it’s the same or clear, you can say antes de entrar (“before entering”).
  2. antes que
    • subjunctive
      • This requires a subordinate verb in the subjunctive: antes que eu entrasse.
        Both are correct; antes de eu entrar is a bit more neutral and uses the infinitive.
Why is eu used after de instead of mim?
When you attach a verb in the infinitive after a preposition, the pronoun is its subject, not its object. Subject pronouns in Portuguese are eu, tu, ele…. So after de we need eu (subject of entrar), not mim (which is the prepositional/object form).
Why is there no location after entrar, like na cabina?
Because repeating na cabina would be redundant: we already know the cabin is the place in question. It’s common in Portuguese to omit a complement when context makes it clear. If you wanted to specify it again, you could say antes de eu entrar na cabina, but it’s not necessary.
Are there other ways to express the same idea in Portuguese?

Yes. For instance, in the active voice:

  • O funcionário limpou a cabina antes de eu entrar.
    Or using the subjunctive with antes que:
  • A cabina foi limpa pelo funcionário antes que eu entrasse.
    Both convey essentially the same timeline and actors.
Why is the word spelled cabina? Could it be cabine?
In European Portuguese cabina (feminine) is the standard spelling for “cabin” or “booth.” Cabine exists in some Brazilian contexts (e.g. cabine telefônica in Brazil), but in Portugal you’ll almost always see cabina.