Antes de cocinar, saco la tabla de madera y el abrelatas del armario.

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Breakdown of Antes de cocinar, saco la tabla de madera y el abrelatas del armario.

• cocinar: to cook
• y: and
• antes de: before

Questions & Answers about Antes de cocinar, saco la tabla de madera y el abrelatas del armario.

Why is it antes de cocinar and not just antes cocinar?

Because after antes in Spanish, you normally use de before an infinitive.

So the pattern is:

• antes de + infinitive = before doing something

Examples:

• Antes de salir = before leaving
• Antes de comer = before eating
• Antes de cocinar = before cooking

This is a very common structure in Spanish.

Why does the sentence say saco instead of yo saco?

Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed.

The verb form saco already tells you the subject is I, because it is the first person singular of sacar in the present tense.

So both of these can mean the same thing:

• Saco la tabla...
• Yo saco la tabla...

Using yo is usually only for emphasis, contrast, or clarity.

What tense is saco, and why is the present tense used here?