This paper focuses on a puzzling asymmetry which arises when the Italian approximative adverb quasi \u201ealmost\u201f modifies the temporal connectives prima \u201ebefore\u201f and dopo \u201eafter\u201f. By looking at naturally occurring data, we observe that A quasi prima che B \u201eA almost before B\u201f can be used to convey that an A-eventuality occurs early, only a little bit after a B-eventuality occurs.
A sentence of the form A quasi dopo che B \u201eA almost after B\u201f, however, cannot be used to convey that an A-eventuality occurs late, only a little bit before a B-eventuality.
We propose a solution for this puzzle that relies on an analysis of quasi as a scale-sensitive adverb and on an asymmetric semantic account of prima and dopo: prima has the meaning of the temporal comparative \u201eearlier\u201f, while dopo denotes a binary relation of temporal succession between events. We show that our account of quasi prima reveals a more general pattern of interpretation found when quasi modifies a comparative
