Breakdown of Nachdem sie die Blumen gegossen hatte, wusch sie sich die Hände.
sie
she
die Blume
the flower
haben
to have
waschen
to wash
die Hand
the hand
sich
oneself / himself / herself / themselves (reflexive pronoun)
nachdem
after
gießen
to water
Questions & Answers about Nachdem sie die Blumen gegossen hatte, wusch sie sich die Hände.
Why do we use hatte in the first part and wusch in the second part?
The conjunction nachdem (after) requires a strict sequence of tenses to show which event happened first. Because watering the flowers happened before washing her hands, the nachdem clause uses the Past Perfect tense (gegossen hatte). The main clause then uses the Simple Past (wusch) for the later action.
Why is the helping verb hatte at the very end of the first part?
Nachdem is a subordinating conjunction. This means it creates a dependent clause and kicks the conjugated verb (here, hatte) to the very end of that clause, right before the comma.
Why does the second half of the sentence start with wusch instead of sie?
In German, the conjugated verb of a main clause must take the second position. The entire Nachdem clause counts as position one. Therefore, the main clause immediately after the comma must start with the verb (wusch) to keep it in position two, followed by the subject (sie).
Why do we say wusch sie sich die Hände instead of just wusch sie ihre Hände?
In English, we say 'she washed her hands'. In German, when performing an action on your own body parts, you usually use a reflexive pronoun instead of a possessive word like ihre. Because die Hände is the direct object (the thing being washed), the reflexive pronoun must be in the dative case. For sie, that dative pronoun is sich.
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