Breakdown of Nach der Arbeit muss ich mich erholen.
ich
I
die Arbeit
the work
müssen
to have to, must
nach
after (in time)
sich erholen
to recover
Questions & Answers about Nach der Arbeit muss ich mich erholen.
Why do we need the word mich in this sentence?
The verb for to recover is sich erholen, which is a reflexive verb. In German, you literally recover yourself. Because the subject is ich, the reflexive pronoun must be the accusative mich.
Why does the verb muss come before the subject ich?
German has a strict verb-second rule. Because the phrase Nach der Arbeit takes up the first position in the sentence, the conjugated verb muss has to come exactly second. The subject ich then moves to the spot right after the verb.
Why is erholen at the very end of the sentence?
This happens because of the modal verb muss. A modal verb takes the second position in the sentence and pushes the main action verb (erholen) to the very end in its basic infinitive form.
Why is it der Arbeit? Isn't the word for work die Arbeit?
Yes, work is a feminine noun (die Arbeit). However, the preposition nach always forces the following noun into the Dative case. In the Dative case, the feminine article die changes to der.
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