Spanish language Q&A Forum

Are "antes de que" and "antes que" fully interchangeable? Does one sound better than the other or is used more in one or another situation? (It could help to say this explicitly.) 

Also, you run through the various past/present/future possibilities of "después de que" noting where the subjunctive or indicative is used. You don't give as many cases for "antes de que". Is it correct to infer that regardless of whether we are referring to a past, present or future event, "antes de que" must always be followed by the subjunctive. (Might help to say so explicitly if this is the case.) 

I still don't get email notifications when new answers are posted. 

Hola,

Re: Se la había comprado. 

How can one tell when reading or hearing this sentence, - if it was a standalone sentence -  that the “se” means  the plural “les” .

    For example if this sentence is entered in Reverso:  “Se la abía comprado.”  they translate it as “ I had bought it for              "him”.  So there’s no way to know from the sentence that it was bought for “plural someones”.  

Would this conundrum ever happen in real life, i.e. in converstion or writing, or would it always be clear from the preceding sentence?

Thank you for your patience,

Nicole