Breakdown of Мы поговорили перед конференцией.
мы
we
перед
in front of / of (with fear) / before (in time)
поговорить
to have a talk (perfective)
конференция
conference
Questions & Answers about Мы поговорили перед конференцией.
Since the current lesson focuses on the preposition по, is the по- in поговорили related to that?
No, in this word по- is a verb prefix, not an independent preposition. While the preposition по is used with the Dative case to describe temporal routines, the prefix по- attached to a verb makes it perfective. In this sentence, it adds the nuance of doing the action for a short time, meaning we had a quick chat or talked for a bit.
Why use the perfective поговорили instead of the imperfective говорили?
Using the perfective поговорили emphasizes that the conversation was a single, completed event that finished before the conference started. If you used the imperfective говорили, it would focus on the ongoing process of talking or the fact that talking happened, rather than highlighting the completed chat.
What case does the preposition перед trigger in this sentence?
It triggers the Instrumental case. The preposition перед translates to "before" (in a time sense) or "in front of" (in a spatial sense), and it always requires the noun that immediately follows it to be in the Instrumental case.
How does the noun конференция change its ending to become конференцией?