Necesito leer el documento antes de la reunión.

I need to read the document before the meeting.

Breakdown of Necesito leer el documento antes de la reunión.

• yo: I
• leer: to read
• antes de: before
• necesitar: to need

Questions & Answers about Necesito leer el documento antes de la reunión.

Why is the subject pronoun yo omitted in the sentence?

In Spanish, subject pronouns are often dropped because the verb ending itself indicates who the subject is. Necesito ends in -o, which tells you the subject is I. You could say Yo necesito leer el documento, but it’s redundant unless you want to emphasize I specifically.

Why is the verb leer in its infinitive form rather than conjugated?

After verbs that express need, desire, permission, etc. (like necesito), you follow with another verb in the infinitive. This structure works like English “I need to read.” Conjugating the second verb (e.g. necesito leo) would be ungrammatical.

What does antes de mean, and how is it used?

Antes de means before when referring to time. You can use it in two main ways:
• antes de + noun: antes de la reunión (“before the meeting”)
• antes de + infinitive: antes de leer (“before reading”)

When do I use antes de que + subjunctive instead of antes de + infinitive?