Using "après avoir"
To say that an action happened "after doing" something else, French uses après followed by the past infinitive. You will use this construction when the same person performs both actions.
For most verbs, you form the past infinitive with après avoir + the past participle of the action verb.
| After searching the house, the inspector understood everything. | Après avoir fouillé la maison, l'inspecteur a tout compris. |
| The accomplice fled after organizing the burglary. | Le complice a fui après avoir organisé le cambriolage. |
| The inspector returned to the police station after questioning the victim. | L'inspecteur est retourné au commissariat après avoir interrogé la victime. |
Using "après être"
Just like in the passé composé, some verbs—such as verbs of motion and reflexive verbs—take être instead of avoir as their helping verb.
For these verbs, form the past infinitive with après être (or après s'être for reflexive verbs) + the past participle. Remember that when using être, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject!
| After arriving at the prison, the judge spoke to the suspect. | Après être arrivé à la prison, le juge a parlé au suspect. |
| After surrendering at the police station, the accomplice confessed everything. | Après s'être rendu au commissariat, le complice a tout avoué. |
| After surrendering, the suspect saw the judge. | Après s'être rendu, le suspect a vu le juge. |
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