Antes de salir, mete la fiambrera y el termo en la mochila, que luego tenemos hambre.

Before leaving, put the lunch box and the thermos in the backpack, because later we’ll be hungry.

Breakdown of Antes de salir, mete la fiambrera y el termo en la mochila, que luego tenemos hambre.

• tener: to have
• en: in
• nosotros: we
• y: and

Questions & Answers about Antes de salir, mete la fiambrera y el termo en la mochila, que luego tenemos hambre.

What form is mete, and why is it used here?

Mete is the affirmative tú command of meter.

• meter = to put / to place / to stick in
• mete = put!

So the sentence is giving an instruction to one person in an informal way:

• Mete la fiambrera y el termo en la mochila = Put the lunchbox and the thermos in the backpack.

If it were negative, Spanish would use a different form:

• No metas la fiambrera... = Don’t put the lunchbox...

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Why does Spanish say antes de salir and not something like antes sales?

After antes de, Spanish normally uses an infinitive when the subject is the same as the main clause or when the subject is understood in a general way.

• Antes de salir = before leaving / before you leave

This is very common:

• Antes de comer = before eating
• Después de trabajar = after working

If Spanish needs to make the subject explicit or different, it often uses:

• antes de que + subjunctive

For example:

• Antes de que salgas = before you leave

So antes de salir is completely natural here.

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What exactly does fiambrera mean in Spain?