"Én az ebéd előtt megmosom a kezemet."
Translation:I wash my hands before lunch.
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Because the article "the" can be left out in this case at the English translation, whereas we should use the Hungarian article "az".
You can also omit the article "az" in the Hungarian sentence. It will become more of a general statement, a habitual action. (Which it should be anyway :) ).
I guess i'm still a little confused as to why we use meg- in this case. Because it's a definate object? Because it was just once?
It's complicated. Take a look at "perfective aspect"
I copy some links here:
Hungarian telicity/ perfective aspect, using meg- https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/29738625
"Nem eszitek meg a vacsorát?" https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/23947973
So, in this case előtt means "before/in front of" in terms of time - and is the opposite of után.
Tegnapelőtt vs Holnapután???
If you translate literally, you're right and it's ok to say that, just a little more usual with singular form, because Hungarian often uses singular in indefinite conjugations. These are almost set phrases: to cut trees = fát vágni to wash hands = kezet mosni to drink beers = sört inni
------- hunkies treat pairs of things, like eyes, ears, hands, feet, shoes, as if they were one, as if they were the singular.
english does the reverse in a few things: chief among which is pants . . .
Big 22 jan 19
