Use of 'de'

[lyla]

Hello everyone...

How does one 'translate' this?

El lee antes de dormir.

He reads before he goes to sleep? Nope...that doesn't seem right :thinking:

What does the 'de' mean in this context? It seems 'de' is used in so many different ways .

Thanks a lot!

lyla

[Perikles]

It's no good looking at de on its own in this sentence. There is the prepositional phrase antes de which means before, it's that simple. On its own de has very any other functions, which I can't list here, but there are other prepositional phrases with de, such as

debajo de = under
delante de = in front of
dentro de = (with)in
después de = after
detrás de = after.

Hope that helps. :)

Edit: He reads before he goes to sleep? :good::good:

[Ambarina]

Hello everyone...

How does one 'translate' this?

El lee antes de dormir.

He reads before he goes to sleep? Nope...that doesn't seem right :thinking:
Your translation is perfectly correct.
What does the 'de' mean in this context? It seems 'de' is used in so many different ways .

Thanks a lot!

lyla

de is a preposition and as such can be used in many ways but basically it means "of". Many Spanish beginners learning English say "He reads before of going to sleep." They do what you're doing, translating word for word. You just have to learn that "before doing something" in Spanish is "antes de hacer algo" and the same goes for "after doing something" is "despues de hacer algo". :)

[bobjenkins]

Hello everyone...

How does one 'translate' this?

El lee antes de dormir.

He reads before he goes to sleep? Nope...that doesn't seem right :thinking:

What does the 'de' mean in this context? It seems 'de' is used in so many different ways .

Thanks a lot!

lyla
Antes de - before
Después de - after


Antes de dormir - Before sleeping
Antes de leer - Before reading

[lyla]

Oh oh...this sounds familiar...from my other question...I'll review all those comments again.

tks!

Ah! This helps a lot!
Thanks

[laepelba]

Oh oh...this sounds familiar...from my other question...I'll review all those comments again.

tks!

YES! This answer is related to the answer to your other question. Keep plugging along!!