Breakdown of Antes del examen, mi amiga está tan ansiosa que casi no duerme.
mi
my
estar
to be
tan
so
la amiga
the friend
Questions & Answers about Antes del examen, mi amiga está tan ansiosa que casi no duerme.
Why is it antes del examen and not antes de el examen?
In Spanish, de + el contracts to del when el is the masculine singular article:
- antes de + el examen → antes del examen
So antes de el examen is grammatically wrong; you must use del.
This contraction does not happen with:
- Feminine nouns: antes de la prueba (not dal)
- The pronoun él (with accent): antes de él = before him
- Proper names starting with El: antes de El Cairo
Can antes del examen go at the end of the sentence? Do I still need a comma?
Yes, you can move the time expression:
- Antes del examen, mi amiga está tan ansiosa que casi no duerme.
- Mi amiga está tan ansiosa que casi no duerme antes del examen.
Both are correct.
About the comma:
- When antes del examen is at the beginning, Spanish usually uses a comma after it.
- When it’s at the end, you normally don’t put a comma before it in this type of simple sentence.
Why is it está tan ansiosa and not es tan ansiosa?