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Не стоит подписывать договор, прежде чем проверить все условия.

Не стоит подписывать договор, прежде чем проверить все условия.
It’s not worth signing the contract before checking all the conditions.

Breakdown of Не стоит подписывать договор, прежде чем проверить все условия.

не
not
проверить
to check
весь
all
прежде чем
before
договор
the contract
условие
the condition
стоить
to be worth
подписывать
to label
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Questions & Answers about Не стоит подписывать договор, прежде чем проверить все условия.

Why does the sentence start with Не стоит? What does this construction do grammatically?

Не стоит + infinitive is an impersonal (no explicit subject) way to give advice or a recommendation. Literally it’s like It’s not worth… / One shouldn’t…
Grammatically:

  • стоит is 3rd person singular of стоить (to be worth / to cost), used impersonally.
  • The action you’re advising against is expressed by an infinitive: подписывать.
Why is it подписывать (imperfective) and not подписать (perfective)?

Both are possible, but they emphasize slightly different things:

  • Не стоит подписывать договор… (imperfective) = general advice about the process/idea of signing (as a rule, don’t go ahead with signing under these conditions).
  • Не стоит подписать договор… is much less natural; after не стоит Russian strongly prefers the imperfective infinitive for “don’t do it / it’s not advisable.”

If you want a more direct “don’t sign (this specific one)” instruction, you might use:

  • Не подписывай(те) договор… (imperative)
  • Не надо подписывать договор… (also common)
Why is договор in the form договор, not договора or something else?

Because подписывать takes a direct object in the accusative case (“to sign what?”).
For masculine inanimate nouns, accusative = nominative, so:

  • договор (Nom.) → договор (Acc.)
What’s the role of прежде чем and why is there a comma before it?

прежде чем means before (literally before what), and it introduces a subordinate clause (often with чем).
A comma is required because Russian separates the main clause from this subordinate clause:

  • Не стоит подписывать договор, прежде чем…
Why is it прежде чем проверить (infinitive) instead of a full clause like прежде чем вы проверите?

Russian often uses an infinitive after прежде чем when the subject is general/understood (like “you/one”) and the sentence is giving advice:

  • прежде чем проверить = before checking

A full clause is also correct and can sound more specific:

  • …прежде чем вы проверите все условия. = before you check all the terms.
Why is проверить perfective, not проверять?

проверить (perfective) focuses on completing the check—i.e., making sure the terms have been checked (result-oriented). This fits advice: don’t sign until the checking is done.

проверять (imperfective) would emphasize the process or repeated checking, and sounds less goal-focused here:

  • прежде чем проверить = before you (successfully) check everything
  • прежде чем проверять = before you start checking / before you engage in checking (less natural in this context)
Does все условия mean “all conditions” or “all terms”? Why условия?

условия can mean both conditions and terms, depending on context. With договор (contract), условия договора is the standard phrase for the terms/conditions of a contract.
So проверить все условия = check all the terms/conditions (all clauses, requirements, details).

What case is все in все условия, and why?

It’s accusative plural, agreeing with условия (direct object of проверить):

  • условия (Nom. pl.) → условия (Acc. pl., inanimate)
  • все matches it: все условия = “all (the) terms”
Can the word order be changed? For example, can I move прежде чем… to the front?

Yes. Word order is flexible, with small changes in emphasis. Common variants:

  • Прежде чем проверить все условия, не стоит подписывать договор.
    Puts emphasis on the “before checking” condition first.

  • Не стоит прежде чем проверить все условия подписывать договор.
    Grammatically possible but heavier/less elegant; most speakers prefer placing the entire прежде чем… phrase after the main clause or moving it fully to the front.

What are alternative ways to say before here besides прежде чем?

Two very common alternatives:

  • перед тем как

    • finite verb:
      Не стоит подписывать договор перед тем, как вы проверите все условия.
      (Note the comma: перед тем, как is often punctuated this way.)

  • до того как

    • finite verb:
      Не стоит подписывать договор до того, как вы проверите все условия.

прежде чем is slightly more formal/compact and works especially well with an infinitive.