Breakdown of Després de la classe, vull saludar la professora.
voler
to want
després de
after
el professor
the teacher
la classe
the class
Questions & Answers about Després de la classe, vull saludar la professora.
Why does the sentence start with Després de la classe?
Després de la classe means after class or more literally after the class.
Catalan often puts a time expression at the beginning of the sentence, just like English can:
- After class, I want to greet the teacher.
- Després de la classe, vull saludar la professora.
You could also place it later in the sentence, but starting with it sounds very natural.
What does després mean, and why does it have an accent?
Després means after or afterwards, depending on context.
In this sentence, it is part of després de, which means after:
- després de la classe = after class
The accent in després shows the stress pattern and helps distinguish correct pronunciation. Catalan spelling uses accents regularly to show where the stress falls.
Why is it després de and not just després?
When després is followed by a noun, Catalan normally uses de:
- després de la classe = after class
- després del dinar = after lunch
- després de l’examen = after the exam
So després de is the standard structure before a noun phrase.