Word
Le vogliamo decorare prima che il rinfresco inizi.
Meaning
We want to decorate them before the reception begins.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Le vogliamo decorare prima che il rinfresco inizi.
iniziare
to start
volere
to want
prima che
before
decorare
to decorate
Questions & Answers about Le vogliamo decorare prima che il rinfresco inizi.
Why do we use the subjunctive verb inizi here?
The conjunction prima che (before) introduces an action that hasn't happened yet, which creates a sense of uncertainty or anticipation. In Italian, this always triggers the subjunctive mood. Because the main verb (vogliamo) is in the present tense, we use the present subjunctive (inizi).
Why is it prima che instead of prima di?
You must use prima che followed by a conjugated subjunctive verb when the subject changes between the two parts of the sentence. Here, the first subject is "we" (vogliamo) and the second subject is "the reception" (il rinfresco). If the subject were the same for both actions (like "We want to decorate them before we begin"), you would use prima di followed by the infinitive (prima di iniziare).
Could the pronoun le go somewhere else in the sentence?
Yes! When you have a modal verb like vogliamo (we want) followed by an infinitive like decorare (to decorate), you have a choice. The object pronoun le (them) can go before the conjugated verb, as it does here (Le vogliamo decorare), or it can attach to the end of the infinitive by dropping its final "e" (vogliamo decorarle). Both are perfectly correct.
What exactly is a rinfresco?