Breakdown of Necesito el presupuesto para mañana, antes de que el comité llegue.
de
from / of
necesitar
to need
llegar
to arrive
para
for
mañana
tomorrow
que
that / than
el presupuesto
budget
antes
before / earlier
el comité
the committee
Questions & Answers about Necesito el presupuesto para mañana, antes de que el comité llegue.
Why is llegue in the subjunctive here instead of the normal present tense llega?
The phrase antes de que (before) always triggers the subjunctive. It sets up an anticipation of an event that hasn't happened yet at the time of the main action. Because the committee's arrival is a pending event, we must use the present subjunctive llegue.
Could I drop the que and just use the infinitive, like antes de llegar el comité?
Not in this case. When the subject changes between the first part of the sentence ("I" need) and the second part ("the committee" arrives), you must use antes de que plus a conjugated verb in the subjunctive. You use antes de plus an infinitive only when the same person does both actions, for example: necesito el presupuesto antes de salir (I need the budget before I leave).
Why is it spelled llegue with an extra "u"?
The infinitive is llegar. To keep the hard "g" sound (like in the English word "go") before the letter "e" in the subjunctive, Spanish requires a spelling change from "g" to "gu". If it were spelled without the "u", it would be pronounced with a soft "g" (like an English "h").
Why do we use para in para mañana instead of por?
We use para to indicate a deadline or a specific due date in the future. Since the budget is due tomorrow, para is the correct preposition. Por is used for durations of time, such as por dos horas (for two hours).
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