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L'impiegato li verifica prima che il permesso scada.

L'impiegato li verifica prima che il permesso scada.
The clerk verifies them before the permit expires.
From Lesson 187:The conjunction 'before' (prima che)·Italian

Questions & Answers about L'impiegato li verifica prima che il permesso scada.

Why is scada used here instead of scade?
The phrase prima che (before) is a temporal conjunction that always requires the subjunctive mood. Since the main verb verifica is in the present tense, we use the present subjunctive scada for the second action.
Scada ends in an -a. Does it come from an -are verb?
No, it comes from the -ere verb scadere (to expire). In the present subjunctive, regular -ere and -ire verbs actually take an -a ending for the singular forms.
Could we use prima di instead of prima che in this sentence?
No, because there are two different subjects. The clerk (l'impiegato) is doing the verifying, and the permit (il permesso) is doing the expiring. You only use prima di + infinitive when the subject is the exact same for both actions.
Why does li come before verifica?
The word li is a direct object pronoun meaning them (masculine plural, likely referring to some documents). In Italian, direct object pronouns are placed immediately before the conjugated verb.

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