Learn Italian: Prima di partecipare, chiunque deve leggere il regolamento. - Before participating, anyone must read the regulation.

Prima di partecipare, chiunque deve leggere il regolamento.

Before participating, anyone must read the regulation.

Breakdown of Prima di partecipare, chiunque deve leggere il regolamento.

before (doing something) / before (a noun / point in time)

chiunque

anyone / whoever

Questions & Answers about Prima di partecipare, chiunque deve leggere il regolamento.

Why is deve in the singular form here when "anyone" could refer to multiple people?

The indefinite pronoun chiunque (anyone/whoever) is always grammatically singular in Italian, much like "anyone" or "everyone" in English. Because of this, it must be paired with the third-person singular verb form, which is why we use deve instead of the plural devono.

Why does the sentence use the infinitive participare instead of a gerund to match the English "participating"?

In English, we say "before participating" using an "-ing" verb. However, in Italian, when you use a preposition like di (in the phrase prima di), it must be followed by the infinitive form of the verb. So "before doing [something]" is always prima di + infinitive.

Could I move chiunque to the very beginning of the sentence?

Yes, absolutely! Chiunque deve leggere il regolamento prima di partecipare is a perfectly natural and grammatically correct sentence. Putting prima di partecipare at the front simply places a little more emphasis on the timing of when the action needs to happen.

The English translation says "the regulation", but we usually say "the rules". Could I use a plural word like le regole or i regolamenti here?