En el aeropuerto siempre reviso mi pasaporte antes de entregar el equipaje.

At the airport I always check my passport before handing in the luggage.

Breakdown of En el aeropuerto siempre reviso mi pasaporte antes de entregar el equipaje.

• yo: I
• en: at
• mi: my
• siempre: always
• antes de: before
• revisar: to check
• el aeropuerto: the airport
• el pasaporte: the passport
• entregar: to hand in
• el equipaje: the luggage

Questions & Answers about En el aeropuerto siempre reviso mi pasaporte antes de entregar el equipaje.

Why is it en el aeropuerto and not al aeropuerto or aeropuerto on its own?

• en = in / at (location where something happens).
  
  • En el aeropuerto siempre reviso… = At the airport I always check…
• a or al = to (movement towards a place).
  
  • Voy al aeropuerto = I’m going to the airport.

You need en because you’re describing what you do there, not movement towards there.
You also need the article el: Spanish normally uses an article before places like el aeropuerto unless another rule blocks it (e.g. after a + masculine singular → al).

Can siempre go in other positions, or must it come before reviso?

It can move a bit; all of these are correct, with very similar meaning:

• Siempre reviso mi pasaporte… (most neutral)
• Reviso siempre mi pasaporte… (slight emphasis on reviso as the repeated action)
• En el aeropuerto reviso siempre mi pasaporte… (focuses first on place, then habit)

Position changes nuance slightly, but not the basic meaning. What you have is the most common, natural order.

What exactly does reviso mean here? Could I say miro, compruebo, or chequeo instead?

• reviso (from revisar) = to check, go over, examine to make sure it’s OK.
  
  • Fits well with things like el pasaporte, el correo, los deberes.

Alternatives:

• miro mi pasaporte – literally I look at my passport; weaker, doesn’t clearly mean check details.
• compruebo mi pasaporte – I check / verify my passport; very good and common in Spain.
• chequeo mi pasaporte – understood, but sounds informal and rather anglicised; in Spain chequear is less standard than revisar or comprobar.

So reviso mi pasaporte or compruebo mi pasaporte are the most natural in Spain.

Why is it reviso and not something reflexive like me reviso?

Revisar is normally a non‑reflexive transitive verb: someone checks something.

• Reviso mi pasaporte. = I check my passport.

You’d use a reflexive form when you are checking yourself (your own body), or in some idiomatic senses:

• Me reviso la espalda. = I check my back.
• El médico me revisó. = The doctor examined me.

In reviso mi pasaporte, the thing being checked is the passport, so you don’t use me.

Why is it mi pasaporte and not el pasaporte?

With personal documents, Spanish normally uses a possessive:

• mi pasaporte, mi DNI, mi carné de conducir

El pasaporte would sound like the passport in general, not clearly my passport, unless context already makes that obvious.
Unlike with body parts or clothes (me lavo las manos, me pongo el abrigo), you generally do not use the article alone with documents: mi pasaporte is the natural choice.

Why do we say antes de entregar and not antes entregar?

In Spanish, antes used before a noun or an infinitive normally needs de:

• antes de cenar = before having dinner
• antes de la película = before the film
• antes de entregar el equipaje = before handing over the luggage

So the pattern is: antes de + infinitive / noun.
Without de (antes entregar) is incorrect in standard Spanish.

What’s the difference between antes de entregar el equipaje and antes de que entregue el equipaje?

• antes de entregar el equipaje

  • Structure: antes de + infinitive
  • Subject is understood to be the same as the main verb’s subject → I hand over the luggage.
  • At the airport I always check my passport before (I) hand over the luggage.

• antes de que entregue el equipaje

  • Structure: antes de que + subjunctive
  • Used when the subject can be different, or when you want a full clause:
    
    • Siempre reviso mi pasaporte antes de que el empleado entregue el equipaje.
      …before the employee hands over the luggage.

In your sentence you’re talking about your own routine, so antes de entregar el equipaje (infinitive) is the natural, simpler option.

In antes de entregar el equipaje, how do we know that entregar also refers to yo (I)?

Spanish often uses an infinitive with implied subject, and by default the subject is the same as the previous finite verb:

• Siempre reviso mi pasaporte antes de entregar el equipaje.
  → reviso = I check
  → entregar (implied subject = I) = (I) hand over

If the subject were different, you’d normally switch to a full clause with antes de que + subjunctive and state the new subject explicitly.

Why is it el equipaje and not simply equipaje or mi equipaje?

All three are technically possible, but they sound slightly different:

• el equipaje – the luggage that both speaker and listener know about (the luggage you’re checking in). Natural and common.
• mi equipaje – emphasizes that it’s my luggage (useful if you want to contrast with other people’s luggage).
• Bare equipaje without an article is unusual here; you’d normally include el or mi.

In context, el equipaje feels neutral and idiomatic: it refers to the set of bags you’re about to hand over.

What’s the difference between equipaje and maleta in Spain?

• equipaje = luggage / baggage (all bags together, uncountable idea):

  • Voy con poco equipaje. = I’m travelling with little luggage.
  • Recoge el equipaje en la cinta. = Pick up the luggage at the belt.

• maleta = suitcase (one specific item, countable):

  • Llevo dos maletas y una mochila.

So in your sentence, el equipaje is the natural generic term: it covers all your bags, not just one suitcase.

In Spain, is entregar el equipaje the normal expression for “check in luggage”?

It’s understandable and correct (to hand over the luggage), but in Spain the most typical airport expression is:

• facturar el equipaje = to check in the luggage

So a very idiomatic Spain-Spanish version would be:

• En el aeropuerto siempre reviso mi pasaporte antes de facturar el equipaje.

Your version with entregar is still fine; it just sounds a bit more general and less “airline‑technical.”

Could I replace el equipaje with a pronoun like entregarlo? Where would it go?

Yes. El equipaje is masculine singular, so its direct object pronoun is lo.

In your sentence, with antes de + infinitive, you can attach lo to the infinitive:

• …antes de entregarlo. = …before handing it over.

Full sentence:

• En el aeropuerto siempre reviso mi pasaporte antes de entregarlo.

You could also say antes de lo entregar in theory, but standard, natural Spanish strongly prefers entregarlo (pronoun attached to the infinitive).

Why is the present tense reviso used here for a habitual action?

Spanish uses the simple present for:

• current actions: Ahora reviso el pasaporte.
• general truths: El agua hierve a 100 grados.
• habits / routines: Siempre reviso mi pasaporte.

So siempre reviso mi pasaporte naturally means I always (as a habit) check my passport.
You don’t need a separate “present simple” vs “present continuous” distinction like in English to express habits.

Could I say antes de entregando el equipaje using a gerund?

No. After antes de, Spanish requires an infinitive, not a gerund:

• ✅ antes de entregar el equipaje
• ❌ antes de entregando el equipaje

Gerunds (entregando) are used in other structures (e.g. estoy entregando, salió corriendo), but not after antes de.