Kumsala gitmeden önce güneş kremi sürüyorum.

I am putting on sunscreen before going to the beach.

Breakdown of Kumsala gitmeden önce güneş kremi sürüyorum.

• gitmek: to go
• önce: before
• -a: to
• kumsal: the beach

Questions & Answers about Kumsala gitmeden önce güneş kremi sürüyorum.

Why is it gitmeden önce for before going, instead of something like a separate word for before plus the verb?

Turkish often uses a verb + suffix + önce/sonra structure for before doing / after doing.

Here:

• gitmek = to go
• gitmeden = without going / before going
• önce = before

So gitmeden önce literally works like before going.

The key part is -meden / -madan, which is added to the verb stem:

• git-meden = before going / without going
• ye-meden = before eating
• çık-madan = before leaving / without leaving

With önce, this very commonly means before doing something.

What exactly does the suffix -meden mean here?

In this sentence, -meden is the negative adverbial form of the verb, and with önce it gives the meaning before doing.

So:

• gitmek = to go
• gitmeden = without going
• gitmeden önce = before going

On its own, -meden/-madan often means without doing:

• Yemeden çıktım. = I left without eating.

But when followed by önce, it is very naturally understood as before doing:

• Yemeden önce = before eating
• Uyumadan önce = before sleeping

So in your sentence, gitmeden önce means before going.