Before, after and while
Which event happens first, and what happens at the same time?
Significado
Events can be linked by saying which happens first or whether they happen at the same time. This makes the order clear even when the later event is mentioned first. Languages use linking words, verb forms, or context, and some have no separate linking word for a particular time relation. Unlike When and how long, Before, after and while relates one event to another rather than giving a time or duration on its own.
Como identificar
Find two events and check whether the message places one before, after, or during the other, regardless of their order in the sentence.
Na tua língua materna
Antes de and depois de link an event to an infinitive, the verb form used to name an action, while antes que and depois que introduce clauses with their own verbs. Antes que normally takes the subjunctive, a form that does not present the event as an established fact; future events after depois que or quando commonly take the future subjunctive. Enquanto links events happening at the same time.
Antes de sair, sempre confiro as janelas.
Depois que a Ana chegar, a gente janta.
Chegar is the future subjunctive here, referring to an arrival that has not happened yet.
Enquanto o arroz cozinhava, cortei os legumes.
Na tua língua de aprendizagem
English links events with words such as before, after, and while. The part introduced by the linking word can come before or after the other part of the sentence. When these links refer to the future, English normally uses a present tense after the linking word, not will.
I'll call you before I leave.
Leave refers to the future, but there is no will after before.
After we finished dinner, we washed the dishes.
Dinner happened first; washing the dishes happened later.
Tom listened to music while he cooked.
The two activities happened at the same time.
Learners whose language uses a future form in both parts may add will after before or after. Learners whose language uses the same word for while and until may confuse events happening together with an action continuing up to its end.