Pre nego što odemo, želim još jednom da proverim da li imam pasoš i karticu.

to have

Breakdown of Pre nego što odemo, želim još jednom da proverim da li imam pasoš i karticu.

• i: and
• želeti: to want
• da li: whether

Questions & Answers about Pre nego što odemo, želim još jednom da proverim da li imam pasoš i karticu.

Why does Serbian use pre nego što here?

Pre nego što means before in the sense of before something happens.

• pre by itself often means before / earlier than
• nego što introduces a whole clause

So:

• pre puta = before the trip
• pre nego što odemo = before we leave

You need pre nego što because what follows is a full action: odemo (we leave).

Why is it odemo, not idemo?

Odemo comes from otići (to leave / go away), while idemo comes from ići (to go).

Here the idea is specifically leave / depart, not just go in a general sense. That is why odemo is natural.

Also, after pre nego što, Serbian often uses a present-tense form of a perfective verb to refer to a future action:

• pre nego što odemo = before we leave

Even though odemo looks like present tense, in this kind of clause it refers to a future event.

Why is odemo present tense if the action is in the future?