Antes de despedirnos, mi amiga metió el clip y el sacapuntas en mi estuche.

Before saying goodbye, my friend put the paper clip and the sharpener into my pencil case.

Breakdown of Antes de despedirnos, mi amiga metió el clip y el sacapuntas en mi estuche.

• en: in
• mi: my
• y: and
• la amiga: the friend

Questions & Answers about Antes de despedirnos, mi amiga metió el clip y el sacapuntas en mi estuche.

Why does the sentence start with Antes de?

Antes de means before.

In Spanish, when before is followed by a verb in its basic form, you usually use antes de + infinitive:

• Antes de salir = before leaving
• Antes de comer = before eating
• Antes de despedirnos = before saying goodbye

So here, de is required because the structure is antes de + infinitive.

Why is it despedirnos and not just despedir?

Because the verb is despedirse, not just despedir.

• despedir = to dismiss, to fire, to send off
• despedirse = to say goodbye

In this sentence, the meaning is to say goodbye, so the reflexive form is needed.

The ending -nos means ourselves / we. So:

• despedirnos = for us to say goodbye / saying goodbye

Why is despedirnos in the infinitive instead of a conjugated form?