Breakdown of Antes de volver a casa, quiero pasar por la peluquería.
Questions & Answers about Antes de volver a casa, quiero pasar por la peluquería.
Because after antes when the next verb stays in the infinitive, Spanish normally uses de:
- antes de volver = before going back / before returning
A very common pattern is:
- antes de + infinitive
- después de + infinitive
Examples:
- Antes de salir, apaga la luz. = Before leaving, turn off the light.
- Después de comer, descanso. = After eating, I rest.
If there is a full clause with a different subject, Spanish often uses antes de que + subjunctive instead:
- Antes de que vuelvas a casa... = Before you go back home...
Volver means to return or to go back.
So:
- volver a casa = to go back home / to return home
In this sentence, it refers to going home after being somewhere else.
A useful detail:
- volver by itself = to return / go back
- volver a + infinitive can also mean to do something again
For example:
- Vuelvo a casa. = I’m going back home.
- Vuelvo a llamar. = I call again / I call back.
So in your sentence, volver a casa is not do home again or anything like that — it simply means go back home.
Here, a is the preposition used with movement toward a destination:
- ir a casa = to go home
- volver a casa = to return home
- llegar a casa = to arrive home
So a casa means homeward / to home.
This is just the normal Spanish pattern with many verbs of movement.
In Spanish, casa often appears without an article when it means home in the general, personal sense.
So:
- voy a casa = I’m going home
- llego a casa = I arrive home
- vuelvo a casa = I return home
If you say la casa, you usually mean the house/building more literally, not just home as a destination.
Compare:
- Voy a casa. = I’m going home.
- Voy a la casa de Ana. = I’m going to Ana’s house.
Here pasar por means to stop by, to go by, or to drop in at a place on the way somewhere else.
So:
- quiero pasar por la peluquería = I want to stop by the hair salon
This does not mean literally pass through in the English sense here. It usually suggests a brief visit or calling in somewhere.
Examples:
- Voy a pasar por el supermercado. = I’m going to stop by the supermarket.
- Pasa por mi casa luego. = Stop by my house later.
La peluquería means the hair salon / hairdresser’s shop — the place.
The person is:
- el peluquero = male hairdresser / barber
- la peluquera = female hairdresser
So:
- pasar por la peluquería = stop by the hair salon
- ver al peluquero / a la peluquera = see the hairdresser
In Spain, peluquería is the normal word for the hair salon.
Spanish often uses the definite article with places when talking about them in a general or known-context way.
So la peluquería here means:
- the hair salon
- often understood as the hair salon I usually go to or the relevant salon in context
Even when English might say go to the hairdresser’s or sometimes just go to the salon, Spanish naturally uses the article:
- Voy a la peluquería.
- Paso por la peluquería.
After querer when the subject is the same, Spanish uses an infinitive:
- Quiero pasar... = I want to stop by...
Structure:
- querer + infinitive
Examples:
- Quiero comer. = I want to eat.
- Quiero volver. = I want to return.
You use quiero que + subjunctive only when the subject changes:
- Quiero que vengas. = I want you to come.
- Quiero que él pase por la peluquería. = I want him to stop by the hair salon.
In your sentence, the speaker wants themself to do the action, so quiero pasar is correct.
Spanish allows fairly flexible word order, especially with time expressions.
The sentence starts with:
- Antes de volver a casa = Before going home
This puts the time idea first and sets the scene.
You could also say:
- Quiero pasar por la peluquería antes de volver a casa.
That means the same thing and is probably the most direct English-like order.
So the original word order is completely natural; it just emphasizes the before going home part first.
Both can mean to return / go back.
So these are both possible:
- Antes de volver a casa...
- Antes de regresar a casa...
In everyday speech, volver is extremely common and often sounds a bit more natural and conversational. Regresar is also correct, but can sound slightly more formal or more common in some regions than others.
For a learner of Spanish from Spain, volver a casa is a very useful, natural phrase.
A few natural translations are:
- Before going home, I want to stop by the hair salon.
- Before I head home, I want to stop by the hairdresser’s.
- I want to stop by the hair salon before going home.
Since you said the meaning is already shown to the learner, the important thing is that the Spanish structure does not have to match English word for word.
Peluquería is pronounced roughly like:
- pe-lu-ke-RI-a
The written accent on -rí- shows where the stress goes:
- pe-lu-que-RÍ-a
Without the accent mark, the stress rules would make you expect a different pronunciation, so the accent is needed.
Also note:
- qu before e sounds like a hard k
- so peluquería has a k sound in the middle, not an English kw
Yes, depending on context, pasar por can mean:
- to pass by
- to go via
- to stop by
In this sentence, because of quiero pasar por la peluquería and the everyday context, learners will usually understand it as I want to stop by the hair salon.
But in another sentence:
- El autobús pasa por el centro. = The bus goes through / passes through the centre.
- Pasé por tu calle. = I passed by your street.
So pasar por is a flexible phrase, and context tells you the exact meaning.