When planning events or managing deadlines, we frequently need to talk about tasks that must be finished before something else happens. In Italian, expressing "before" as a conjunction always requires the subjunctive mood.
Prima che
The conjunction prima che translates to "before". Because it introduces an anticipated action that has not yet occurred, it is always followed by the subjunctive.
Let's look at this structure in the context of event preparation, using verbs like allestire (to set up) and decorare (to decorate).
| I want to set up the hall before the guests arrive. | Voglio allestire la sala prima che gli invitati arrivino. |
| We want to decorate them before the reception begins. | Le vogliamo decorare prima che il rinfresco inizi. |
| I want to decorate the hall before you distribute the gifts. | Voglio decorare la sala prima che tu distribuisca i regali. |
Meeting Deadlines
This same structure is essential in professional settings for beating deadlines (il termine) or verifying documents before they expire (scadere).
| I verify it before the deadline expires. | Lo verifico prima che il termine scada. |
| The clerk verifies them before the permit expires. | L'impiegato li verifica prima che il permesso scada. |
Subject-Verb Inversion
You will often notice native Italian speakers placing the subject after the verb in these subordinate clauses, especially with intransitive verbs like iniziare (to begin) or scadere (to expire). This inverted word order is perfectly correct and natural in Italian.
| I want to distribute them before the deadline expires. | Li voglio distribuire prima che scada il termine. |
| We distribute them before the reception begins. | Le distribuiamo prima che inizi il rinfresco. |