dum, antequam, priusquam + Subjunctive (Until, Before)
Until and Before, Aiming at
Until or before, looking ahead: the subjunctive.
How It Works
| Plain fact (indicative) | Looking ahead (subjunctive) |
|---|---|
| Antequam abiit, eum salutavi. Before he left, I greeted him. | Antequam abeat, eum salutare volo. Before he leaves, I want to greet him. |
With dum meaning until, the subjunctive shows that the waiting aimed at something: Exspecta dum veniat (Wait until he comes).
The tense follows the main verb. After a past main verb it is the imperfect (veniret), and after a present main verb it is the present (veniat).
The Gospel of John has one: Antequam Abraham fieret, ego sum. The main verb sum is a present, but fieret is imperfect, because it looks back to a time before Abraham was born.
Examples (5)
- Exspectavi dum veniret.
I waited until he came.
Dum with the imperfect subjunctive veniret shows that the waiting aimed at his coming.
- Exspecta dum veniat.
Wait until he comes.
After a present command, the present subjunctive veniat follows.
- Priusquam abeat, eum salutare volo.
Before he leaves, I want to greet him.
Priusquam looks ahead, so abeat is subjunctive.
- Antequam Abraham fieret, ego sum.
Before Abraham came to be, I am.
John 8:58. Fieret is the imperfect subjunctive of fio, after antequam. It is imperfect because the time before Abraham lies in the past, even though sum is present.
- Manete dum sacerdos veniat.
Stay until the priest comes.
Manete is a plural command. Dum veniat names the event you wait for.
How It Connects
Learn This First
These words take the subjunctive when they name an aim, so their indicative forms and the sequence of tenses come first.
- nisi, quamquam, antequam, priusquam (Unless, Although, Before)Unless, Although, Before
Know antequam and priusquam with the indicative, because the subjunctive adds the idea of an aim.
Level 4 - Which Tense of the Subjunctive
Know the sequence of tenses, because the subjunctive after dum follows the main verb: veniat after a present, veniret after a past.
Level 5
Related Patterns
Words in This Pattern
Practice dum, antequam, priusquam + Subjunctive (Until, Before) in Bubblegum
Poppy, your AI tutor, writes Latin lessons at your level. Tap any grammar point in a lesson to see its full explanation.
