1912. In general present statements, #antequam# and #priusquam#
regularly introduce the perfect indicative or the present subjunctive:
as,
#membrīs ūtimur priusquam didicimus cuius ea causā ūtilitātis habeāmus#,
_Fin._ 3, 66, _we always use our limbs before we learn for what purposes
of utility we have them_ (1613). #priusquam lūcet, adsunt#, Pl. _MG._
709, _before ’tis light they’re always here_; here #lūcet# is equivalent
to #inlūxit#. #ante vidēmus fulgōrem quam sonum audiāmus#, Sen. _QN._ 2,
12, 6, _we always see the flash before we hear the sound_. #priusquam
sēmen mātūrum siet, secātō#, Cato, _RR._ 53, _always cut before the seed
is ripe_ (1575). With the perfect subjunctive in the indefinite second
person (1030): as, #hoc malum opprimit antequam prōspicere potuerīs#,
_V._ 1, 39, _this calamity always overwhelms you before you can
anticipate it_ (1731, 1558). For #prius quam#, _sooner than_, see 1897.
1913. The future indicative is used a few times in general statements by
old and late writers, and the perfect subjunctive after a negative
clause rarely by Tacitus: as, #bovēs priusquam in viam agēs, pice cornua
īnfima unguitō#, Cato, _RR._ 72, _always smear the hoofs of your oxen
with pitch before you drive them on the road_ (1625, 1577). #deū̆m honor
prīncipī nōn ante habētur quam agere inter hominēs dēsierit#, Ta. 15,
74, _divine honours are not paid to an emperor before he has ceased to
live among men_. Cicero has the perfect subjunctive in a definition:
thus, #prōvidentia, per quam futūrum aliquid vidētur antequam factum
sit#, _Inv._ 2, 160, _foresight is the faculty through which a future
event is seen before it has taken place_. He also has the present
indicative once: _Div._ 1, 120.
1914. In general past statements #antequam# and #priusquam# introduce
the subjunctive imperfect or pluperfect; but this use is very rare: as,
#dormīre priusquam somni cupīdō esset#, S. _C._ 13, 3, _a-sleeping
always before they felt sleepy_. #ita saepe magna indolēs virtūtis,
priusquam rē̆ī pūblicae prōdesse potuisset, extīncta est#, _Ph._ 5, 47,
_thus character of unusual promise was oftentimes cut off, before it
could do the government any good_.