Я хочу ещё раз проверить договор, прежде чем подписать его.

In Russian, after хотеть (to want), you normally use the infinitive directly:

• Я хочу проверить = I want to check
• Он хочет уйти = He wants to leave

Russian does not need a separate word like English to before the second verb. The infinitive itself already carries that meaning.

So:

• Я хочу = I want
• проверить = to check

Together: Я хочу проверить = I want to check

Yes, ещё раз here means once more / one more time / again.

Literally:

• ещё = still / yet / more
• раз = time / occasion

So ещё раз is literally one more time.

In this sentence:

• Я хочу ещё раз проверить договор = I want to check the contract one more time

Russian also has снова and опять, which can also mean again, but ещё раз often emphasizes the idea of repeating an action one more time.

This is about verb aspect, which is very important in Russian.

• проверять = imperfective
• проверить = perfective

Here, проверить is used because the speaker wants to do the action once, as a complete whole, before signing.

So the idea is:

• I want to carry out one full check of the contract

If you used проверять, it would sound more like an ongoing process, repeated checking, or checking in a general sense.

In this sentence, the perfective проверить fits because the speaker means a single completed action before another action happens.

Because договор is the direct object of проверить, it goes in the accusative case.

The noun договор is:

• masculine
• singular
• inanimate

For masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular is the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: договор
• accusative: договор

That is why the form does not change.

Compare:

• Я вижу стол = I see the table
• Я проверяю договор = I check the contract

Both стол and договор are masculine inanimate nouns, so the accusative looks the same as the nominative.

Прежде чем means before or more literally before doing something / before the moment when.

It introduces a clause about an action that happens later than the main action.

In this sentence:

• Я хочу ещё раз проверить договор, прежде чем подписать его.
• I want to check the contract once more before signing it.

So the sequence is:

1. check the contract
2. sign it

A useful way to think of прежде чем is:

• before
• before I...
• before doing...

It is commonly followed by an infinitive when the subject is understood from context, as in this sentence.

Again, this is aspect.

• подписывать = imperfective
• подписать = perfective

The speaker means sign it once, as a completed act. Signing a contract is usually viewed as a single finished event, so the perfective подписать is natural.

So:

• прежде чем подписать его = before signing it / before I sign it

If you used подписывать, it would suggest a process or repeated action, which does not fit as well here.

Good question. Russian can express this idea in two natural ways:

1. прежде чем подписать его
2. прежде чем я подпишу его

Both can mean before signing it / before I sign it.

In your sentence, the infinitive подписать is used because the subject is already clear: it is the same Я from the main clause.

So the sentence means:

• I want to check the contract again before signing it

This structure is compact and very common in Russian.

If you say прежде чем я подпишу его, it sounds a little more explicit and finite: before I sign it.

Его means it and refers back to договор.

So:

• подписать его = to sign it

Russian often uses the pronoun here even though договор was already mentioned earlier, because the second verb подписать also needs its object. This makes the sentence clear and natural.

Without его, the sentence would sound incomplete:

• прежде чем подписать = before signing
  but signing what?

Since the object is the contract, Russian uses его.

Here его is in the accusative, because it is the direct object of подписать.

• подписать что? → его

However, there is something tricky: the form его can also be genitive, depending on context. Russian pronouns sometimes have the same form in different cases.

Here we know it is accusative because of the meaning and the verb:

• подписать его = sign it

So even though the form looks the same as genitive, its function here is accusative.

Because прежде чем introduces a subordinate clause, and in Russian such clauses are normally separated by a comma.

So:

• Я хочу ещё раз проверить договор, прежде чем подписать его.

The comma is standard and expected here.

A good rule of thumb is: if прежде чем introduces the before part of the sentence, you usually put a comma before it.

Yes, Russian word order is more flexible than English, though not completely free.

The neutral version is:

• Я хочу ещё раз проверить договор, прежде чем подписать его.

But you could also move parts around for emphasis. For example:

• Я хочу проверить договор ещё раз, прежде чем подписать его.

This still means the same thing, but the emphasis shifts slightly.

The original version sounds natural and neutral. For a learner, it is a very good model to follow.

Usually договор means contract or agreement, especially in legal, business, or formal contexts.

Depending on context, it can refer to:

• a formal contract
• an agreement between parties
• an official document to be signed

In your sentence, because of подписать его (sign it), contract is the most natural interpretation.

Yes, you often could:

• Я хочу снова проверить договор...

This also means I want to check the contract again...

But there is a slight nuance:

• ещё раз emphasizes one more time
• снова simply means again

In this sentence, ещё раз works especially well because the speaker wants to do another deliberate review before signing. It has a very natural one more time before the final step feeling.