Good evening everyone,
Прежде чем вы войдете на территорию, я должен вас обыскать.
-i must search you before you enter the compound.
What is the purpose of чем in the sentence??? Im not sure why чем is needed…
Thank you in advance!!
hi,
this question is not so easy for me, we don’t really think about the exact meaning of fixed phrases… 
“Чем” means “than”, and to understand its purpose in this sentence, we need to keep in mind that the words “before” and “прежде” are used differently in some cases.
Я жил там прежде.
I lived there before.
(Here they look alike).
Я жил там, прежде чем переехал сюда.
I lived there before I moved here.
(Here we see the difference, if we are talking of an event that took place before something else, we need to use this “чем” thing).
The best analogy I can find is the English word “earlier”.
I saw him earlier.
but
I saw him earlier than expected.
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Hello,
Thank you for the explanation!!
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