Word
Перед тем как заселиться, нужно показать паспорт и подписать договор.
Meaning
Before moving in, you need to show your passport and sign the contract.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Перед тем как заселиться, нужно показать паспорт и подписать договор.
и
and
паспорт
the passport
показать
to show
нужно
to need
Questions & Answers about Перед тем как заселиться, нужно показать паспорт и подписать договор.
What does перед тем как mean?
It means before or before doing something.
More literally, it is something like before that, how/when..., but in normal English you should just think of it as a fixed expression meaning before when it introduces an action:
- Перед тем как заселиться... = Before checking in / before moving in...
It is very common in Russian when one action happens earlier than another.
Why is it тем in перед тем как?
Because перед normally requires the instrumental case, and тот changes to тем in the instrumental singular.
So:
- тот = that
- перед тем = before that
In this expression, перед тем как functions as a set phrase, so it is best learned as a whole.
Why is the verb заселиться and not just селиться or заселить?