Després de treballar, la mare vol comprar roba.

to want

Breakdown of Després de treballar, la mare vol comprar roba.

• la mare: the mother
• després de: after
• comprar: to buy

Questions & Answers about Després de treballar, la mare vol comprar roba.

What is després de doing here? Can després be used without de?

Yes. Després by itself usually means afterwards or later:

• Treballa i després descansa. = He/She works and afterwards rests.

But when it is followed by a noun or a verb, Catalan normally uses després de:

• després de la feina = after work
• després de treballar = after working

So in your sentence, després de treballar is the normal way to say after working.

Why is it treballar and not treballant?

Because after després de, Catalan uses the infinitive, not the gerund.

English often says after working, with an -ing form. Catalan does not copy that structure here. It says:

• després de treballar
• després de menjar
• després d’estudiar

So treballar is correct because it is the infinitive.

What form is vol?

Vol is the 3rd person singular present indicative of voler = to want.

So:

• = I want