Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Tengo que firmar el documento antes de la reunión. - I have to sign the document before the meeting.

Spanish normally drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows who the subject is. Tengo can only mean “I have”, so yo is not needed.

Tengo que firmar… = perfectly natural and most common.
Yo tengo que firmar… = also correct, but usually used for emphasis or contrast, e.g. Yo tengo que firmar el documento, no tú. (“I have to sign the document, not you.”)

What exactly does tener que mean, and how is it different from deber or hay que?

Tener que + infinitive expresses a personal obligation: “to have to do something.”

Tengo que firmar el documento. = “I have to sign the document.” (a clear, concrete obligation)

Common comparisons:

deber + infinitive
- Often “should / ought to,” sometimes “must,” with a nuance of duty, recommendation, or moral obligation.
- Debo firmar el documento. = “I should / I ought to sign the document” (or “I must,” but sounds more formal/serious).
hay que + infinitive
- Impersonal, general obligation: “one must / you have to / it is necessary to.”
- Hay que firmar el documento antes de la reunión. = “The document has to be signed before the meeting / One must sign the document before the meeting.”

In everyday speech in Spain, tener que is the most common way to say “have to.”

Why do we need que after tengo? Can I say Tengo firmar el documento?

You must include que. The pattern is:

tener que + infinitive = to have to do something

So you say:

Tengo que firmar el documento. ✅
Not: Tengo firmar el documento. ❌

Without que, tengo just means “I have” in the sense of possession:

Tengo un documento. = “I have a document.”
Tengo que firmar un documento. = “I have to sign a document.”

Why is firmar in the infinitive form and not conjugated, like firmo?

After tener que, the next verb stays in the infinitive:

tener que + infinitive: tengo que firmar, tienes que estudiar, tenemos que salir, etc.

So:

Tengo que firmar el documento. = “I have to sign the document.”

If you conjugated firmar, you would be making a separate clause, which would change the structure or require other words:

Firmo el documento. = “I sign the document.” (simple statement, no “have to”)
Tengo que lo firmo. ❌ (incorrect in Spanish)

Why is it el documento and not un documento or just documento?

El documento uses the definite article, so it refers to a specific document that the speaker and listener probably already know about (e.g. the contract they discussed).

Tengo que firmar el documento.
= “I have to sign the document” (a particular, known document).

Alternatives:

Tengo que firmar un documento. = “I have to sign a document” (some document, not specified which one).
In Spanish, you generally cannot drop the article and say just tengo que firmar documento the way English allows “sign document.” That sounds wrong in Spanish; singular count nouns almost always need an article (el, un, etc.) or another determiner (este, mi, etc.).

Why is it antes de la reunión and not antes la reunión?

In Spanish, antes de is the correct preposition meaning “before” when followed by a noun or an infinitive. The de cannot be omitted:

antes de la reunión = “before the meeting” ✅
antes la reunión ❌ (incorrect)

Similarly:

antes de comer = “before eating”
antes de la cena = “before dinner”

So the full phrase antes de la reunión is a fixed prepositional phrase: antes de + noun.

What’s the difference between antes de and antes de que?

They introduce different kinds of structures:

antes de + noun / infinitive
- Antes de la reunión = “before the meeting” (noun)
- Antes de firmar el documento = “before signing the document” (infinitive)
antes de que + verb (subjunctive)
Use this when it’s followed by a full clause (subject + verb), especially when there’s a change of subject.
- Tengo que firmar el documento antes de que empiece la reunión.
  = “I have to sign the document before the meeting starts.”
Notice:
- empiece is subjunctive (from empezar) because of antes de que.

In your original sentence, antes de la reunión is simply antes de + noun, so antes de que is not needed.

Why is it la reunión (feminine) and de la reunión, not del reunión?

Reunión is a feminine noun in Spanish, so it takes the feminine article la:

la reunión = “the meeting”

Most nouns ending in -ión are feminine: la nación, la decisión, la conversación, la reunión, etc.

The preposition de combines with el to form del, but it does not combine with la:

de + el → del (masculine): del libro (“of the book”)
de + la → de la (feminine): de la reunión (“of the meeting”)

So de la reunión is correct, and del reunión would be wrong twice (wrong article and wrong contraction).

Why does reunión have an accent mark, and how is it stressed?

Reunión has an accent on the ó to show that the stress falls on the last syllable: re-u-nión.

Without the accent, by default, a word ending in -n, -s, or a vowel would be stressed on the second-to-last syllable. The written accent overrides that rule and tells you:

Pronounce it as: re-u-NYÓN (with the stress on -nión).

The accent is important in writing; leaving it out (reunion) is considered a spelling mistake in Spanish.

Can I change the word order, like Antes de la reunión, tengo que firmar el documento?

Yes. Time expressions like antes de la reunión can go at the beginning or end of the sentence:

Tengo que firmar el documento antes de la reunión.
Antes de la reunión, tengo que firmar el documento.

Both are natural. Putting Antes de la reunión at the beginning slightly emphasizes the time frame (“Before the meeting, [what has to happen is that] I must sign the document”).