بعد أن أكتب الواجب، أرسل رسالة إلى الأستاذة.

After I write the homework, I send a message to the professor.

Breakdown of بعد أن أكتب الواجب، أرسل رسالة إلى الأستاذة.

• الى: to
• أن: (subordinating particle)
• بعد: after
• يرسل: to send

Questions & Answers about بعد أن أكتب الواجب، أرسل رسالة إلى الأستاذة.

Why does the sentence use بعد أن before أكتب? What does أن do here?

In this sentence, بعد أن means after followed by a verb clause, so بعد أن أكتب الواجب means after I write the homework.

Here, أن introduces a verb after بعد. A very common Arabic pattern is:

• بعد أن + verb = after doing / after [someone] does

So:

• بعد أن أكتب = after I write
• بعد أن تصل = after you arrive
• بعد أن ينتهي الدرس = after the lesson ends

In Modern Standard Arabic, this is a very natural way to say after plus a full clause.

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Why is أكتب in the present tense if the meaning is after I write?

Arabic often uses the present tense after بعد أن even when English would naturally say after I write or after I have written.

So أكتب here is literally a present-tense form, but in context it refers to an action that will happen before the next action. The sequence is:

1. I write the homework
2. I send a message

So the present tense here does not mean only I am writing right now. In Arabic, the present can also express future or general sequence when the context makes that clear.

If you wanted, you could make the future meaning even more explicit in the second clause: