Learn Swedish: Kan du släppa av mig före halv nio? - Can you drop me off before half past eight?

This sentence is exactly the kind of response or follow-up you would use for a hur dags question. If the driver asked Hur dags ska jag släppa av dig? (At what time should I drop you off?), you provide a specific clock time like halv nio. Remember that hur dags demands a clock time, whereas när (when) could just be answered with a day or month.

As a quick refresher, why does halv nio mean 8:30 and not 9:30?

In Swedish, time-telling looks forward to the upcoming hour rather than looking back at the hour that just passed. Halv nio essentially means 'halfway to nine'. This is a common trip-up for English speakers, so always remember to subtract an hour in your head when translating 'half past' into Swedish!

Could I use innan instead of före in this sentence?

Yes, in modern everyday Swedish you absolutely can. Traditionally, före is a preposition used before nouns or times (like halv nio), while innan is a conjunction used before a full clause (like innan jag börjar jobba - before I start working). However, using innan as a preposition is so widespread today that innan halv nio sounds completely natural to a native speaker.

Is släppa av a particle verb, and how should I pronounce it?