Help understanding a certain sentence

[Rei Yahya]

Quick question!

遠くまで行く内に雨が降り出しました。I had not gone far before it began to rain.

I have a loose grasp on the grammar of this sentence, but I'm being tripped up by uchi ni. Its definition doesn't lend itself to mean 'before it began' but that must be what it's doing here.

 

[Toritoribe]

Isn't that 遠くまで行かないうちに?

遠くまで行かないうちに、雨が降り出しました。（＝遠 くまで行く前に、雨が降り出しました。）
Before I had gone far, it began to rain.

 

[Rei Yahya]

アナザーウエブサイトのエグザンプルでした。I was confused at the verb form being plain as well.

 

[Half-n-Half]

ないうちに = before something happens, usually negative connotation as far as I understand.

冷めないうちに早く食べてね。
Eat before it gets cold.

Or something like that.

 

[Toritoribe]

アナザーウエブサイトのエグザンプルでした。

別のサイト の / に載っていた / で見かけた 例です。;-)


うちに is a bit tricky. "The negative form + うちに" means "before", as HnH-san wrote, whereas "the affirmative form + うちに" is "while".

映画を見ないうちに寝てしまいました。（＝ 映画を見る前に寝てしまいました。）
I fell to sleep before I watched a movie.

映画を見ているうちに寝てしまいました。（＝ 映画を見ている間に寝てしまいました。）
I fell to sleep while I was watching a movie.

 

[Rei Yahya]

Half-n-Half, thank you for the explanation, and Toritoribe, thank you for the nuance. And also thank you for correcting my sentence, I was disgusted by my own katakana overload.