ANTERIORITY RELATION

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Inside a dependent clause, the time expressed by an action that happens before the action of the main clause is called anterior and the time relation between the dependent clause and the main clause is called anteriority relation.

Example:
" Mi hanno detto che hai già preparato le valigie per il viaggio. "
In this example the action of 'preparare le valigie' happens before the action of 'dire'.

To express this relation we can find different times, because the time of the verb of the dependent clause is determined in relation to the verb of main clause.

Examples:
"So che sei andata a Roma."
"Sapevo che eri andata a Roma."

Note:
Even the moods of clauses in a period have different natures. This argument is discussed in the section on the concordance of times and moods.

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