Després de l'examen, la professora explica les preguntes i les respostes.

Després de is a very common Catalan expression meaning after when it is followed by a noun.

• després = after / later
• de = of

So:

• Després de l'examen = after the exam

If a verb follows, Catalan often uses a different structure, for example després de fer l'examen = after doing/taking the exam.

Catalan usually shortens the definite article el or la before a word beginning with a vowel or mute h.

So:

• el examen → l'examen

This is the same kind of thing you see in:

• l'escola
• l'amic
• l'hora

Here, examen is masculine singular, so the full article would normally be el, but before the vowel it becomes l'.

It is masculine: l'examen.

You can tell from the article. If it were feminine, you would expect la, or l' standing for la before a vowel. Since dictionary forms show l'examen and the noun is treated as masculine, related words would agree with that if needed.

The accent in després shows the correct stress.

It is pronounced with the stress on the last syllable: des-PRÉS.

Written accents in Catalan are important because they often tell you where the stress goes and sometimes what kind of vowel sound is used. So the accent is not optional.

Professora is the feminine singular form meaning female teacher/professor.

• el professor = the male teacher
• la professora = the female teacher

Catalan nouns referring to people often change form depending on gender, and the article must match:

• la professora explica...
• el professor explica...

Explica is the third-person singular present tense of explicar.

The subject is la professora, which is singular, so the verb must also be singular:

• jo explico = I explain
• tu expliques = you explain
• ell/ella explica = he/she explains

So la professora explica means the teacher explains.

Catalan often uses the present tense in a straightforward way, just like English does in sentences such as the teacher explains the questions.

Depending on context, explica can mean:

• explains
• is explaining

In a simple example sentence like this, the plain present is the normal choice.

Catalan uses definite articles very often, sometimes more often than English does.

Here:

• les preguntes = the questions
• les respostes = the answers

Using the articles makes the sentence sound natural and specific. It suggests the teacher is explaining the questions and the answers from that exam, not just questions and answers in general.

Repeating the article before each noun is very normal in Catalan.

So:

• les preguntes i les respostes

is more natural than leaving the second article out.

Catalan often repeats articles in coordinated phrases, especially when both nouns are clearly separate items. English can do either, but Catalan commonly prefers repeating them.

These are both feminine plural nouns.

• la pregunta → les preguntes
• la resposta → les respostes

You can see two things happening:

1. The article changes from la to les
2. The noun becomes plural, usually by adding -s

Because both nouns are feminine plural, they both take les.

The main clause follows a normal Catalan word order:

• la professora = subject
• explica = verb
• les preguntes i les respostes = object

So the structure is basically:

After the exam, [subject] + [verb] + [object]

This is very similar to standard English word order.

The phrase Després de l'examen is an introductory time expression.

A comma is commonly used after this kind of opening phrase:

• Després de l'examen, ...
• Al matí, ...
• Quan arriba, ...

It helps separate the time setting from the main clause. In some short sentences punctuation can vary a little, but the comma here is completely natural.

Usually explicar means to explain, but in some contexts it can also mean to tell or to relate.

In this sentence, explica les preguntes i les respostes, the meaning is clearly explains.

Examples:

• explicar una lliçó = to explain a lesson
• explicar una història = to tell a story

So the exact English translation depends on context.