antes de que, antes de

Question

Do antes de anochecer and antes de que anochezca means the same thing?

Answer 1

Well, yes and no. The first example can be taken for what it is (before dark), but the second example has to be part of a subjunctive clause (before dark something is supposed to happen, but it might not). The second example would require a second verb to tell us what is going to happen (maybe) before dark.

EDIT: I just wanted to say that que does NOT always require the subjunctive, but MOST of the time this will be the case.

LOL at the edit. I know who you are talking to ;). Very good answer in my opinion. ;) - jeezzle, Nov 6, 2010

Could one also use, for example, "Aún antes de que anocheciera"? - joshuamarc, May 14, 2016