Breakdown of Прежде чем подписать документ, нужно всё предусмотреть и проверить страховку.
и
and
документ
document
нужно
it is necessary
подписать
to sign
проверить
to check (perfective)
весь
all, the whole, everything, everyone (весь, вся, всё, все)
прежде чем
before (doing something)
предусмотреть
to foresee
страховка
insurance (f)
Questions & Answers about Прежде чем подписать документ, нужно всё предусмотреть и проверить страховку.
Why is the infinitive подписать used after прежде чем here instead of a conjugated verb?
When the implied subject of the main clause and the "before" clause are the same, Russian uses прежде чем + infinitive. Since this entire sentence is impersonal (нужно - "one needs to"), the general "you" is doing both the signing and the checking. If the subjects were different (like "Before he signs, we need to..."), you would use a conjugated verb in the past tense instead.
Why do we use the perfective verb подписать rather than the imperfective подписывать?
The perfective is used because you need to check everything before the completion of the signature. Using прежде чем with a perfective infinitive emphasizes that the main action must happen before the finalized result of the second action is achieved.
Предусмотреть looks like a long compound word. How is it formed?
It is formed from the prefix пред- (meaning "before" or "pre-") and усмотреть (to perceive or discover, which is rooted in смотреть - to look). It literally translates to "to look ahead", which perfectly matches its meaning of "to foresee" or "to anticipate" here.
Just as a quick refresher, why does страховка change to страховку at the end of the sentence?
Страховку is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the transitive verb проверить (to check). It is the thing receiving the action of being checked.
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