Reflexive Verbs (whether to conjugate).
(Acostarse) No padre prefiere leer antes de ________.
Which is the answer?
a) se acuesta b) acostarse
3 Answers
If it's right after a preposition such as "de" or "para," you use the infinitive form of the verb.
If it had "de que" or "para que," i.e. includes 'que', then you would use the conjugated form.
I t is very sad that fathers these days prefer to put the children in front of the TV , rather than reading them a story.
A little discussion on the grammar:
(Acostarse) No padre prefiere leer antes de ________.
Which is the answer?
a) se acuesta b) acostarse
As Cordobesa notes: "no padre" makes no sense. I will assume that there should be a comma there, and it is the answer to a question:
No, (en vez de eso) (mi) padre prefiere leer antes de....
"Antes de" always requires a verb conjugated in the subjunctive or no conjugated verb- because it refers to a future action from it's point of use. If there is action, ie a verb, an unconjugated verb is used if the subject is obvious (usually, but not always, this revolves around a lack of change of subject).
So se acuesta could never be used as the main verb in an "antes de" clause, because it is indicative
The assumption is that father prefers to read before going to bed (ie he does not go straight to bed).
Thus the subject is obvious and you use acostarse.
But in a sentence such as:
Mi padre prefiere leer a mi hermana antes de acostarse.
The assumption from the tenses is that he does so before he goes to bed, although maybe it is before they go to bed, or she. You can clear that up by conjugation.
Mi padre prefiere leer a mi hermana antes de que ella se acueste.
