Després d'eixugar la safata, la meva filla hi deixa el pa calent.

Because de normally contracts or elides before a vowel sound. So:

• de + eixugar → d'eixugar

This is very common in Catalan:

• d'anar
• d'estudiar
• d'obrir

So Després d'eixugar... is just the normal form of després de + infinitive before a vowel.

Because després de + infinitive is the standard way to say after doing something.

So:

• Després d'eixugar la safata = After drying the tray

This works a lot like English after + -ing. Catalan prefers the infinitive here, not a gerund.

Compare:

• Després de menjar = after eating
• Després d'arribar = after arriving
• Després d'eixugar la safata = after drying the tray

If you want a full clause with its own subject and tense, Catalan can also use structures like després que..., but després de + infinitive is the simplest and most common pattern when the subject is understood from context.

Normally, the default interpretation is that the subject of the infinitive phrase is the same as the subject of the main verb.

So here, the natural reading is:

• la meva filla dries the tray
• then la meva filla leaves/puts the warm bread there

In other words, the daughter is understood to be doing both actions.

This is very common with infinitive phrases in Catalan, just as in English:

• After drying the tray, my daughter...

English also usually assumes that my daughter is the one who dried it.

Hi is a very common Catalan weak pronoun. In this sentence, it replaces a place expression, something like:

• a la safata
• a sobre de la safata
• allà

So:

• la meva filla hi deixa el pa calent

means something like:

• my daughter leaves/puts the warm bread there
• or more specifically here, my daughter puts the warm bread on/in the tray

Because the tray has just been mentioned, hi most naturally refers back to it.

Because weak pronouns in Catalan usually go before a conjugated verb.

So:

• hi deixa = leaves/puts there

This is the normal position for clitic pronouns:

• hi va = goes there
• en parla = talks about it
• el veu = sees him/it

If the verb were an infinitive, imperative, or gerund, the position could change, but with a normal finite verb like deixa, the pronoun comes before it.

It can mean leave, but in contexts like this it often also has the practical sense of put or set down.

So hi deixa el pa calent could be understood as:

• she leaves the warm bread there
• she puts the warm bread there
• she sets the warm bread on the tray

Catalan deixar is broader than the most literal English leave, and context decides the best translation.

Because Catalan normally uses the definite article with possessives in many cases where English does not.

So Catalan often says:

• la meva filla = my daughter
• el meu pare = my father
• la nostra casa = our house

For an English speaker, this can feel unusual, but it is standard Catalan grammar.

Because adjectives in Catalan often come after the noun.

So:

• el pa calent = the warm bread

This is the most neutral order. Also, the adjective agrees with the noun:

• pa is masculine singular
• so the adjective is calent (masculine singular)

Compare:

• el pa calent
• la sopa calenta
• els pans calents
• les sopes calentes

Eixugar usually means to dry or to wipe dry.

With la safata, it suggests removing water or moisture from the tray, probably by wiping it with a cloth.

So in this sentence it is not just abstract drying in the sense of letting it dry by itself; it more naturally suggests an active action such as:

• drying it off
• wiping it dry

Because Després d'eixugar la safata is an introductory phrase, and Catalan often separates that kind of fronted phrase with a comma.

So the comma helps show the structure:

• first, the time/action frame: Després d'eixugar la safata
• then, the main clause: la meva filla hi deixa el pa calent

In short, it makes the sentence clearer and more natural to read.

Grammatically, Catalan often wants that locative reference to be expressed if the idea is leave/put it there/on it.

Since the tray has just been mentioned, hi neatly refers back to that location. Without it, the sentence would change meaning or sound incomplete depending on context.

Compare:

• La meva filla hi deixa el pa calent = My daughter leaves/puts the warm bread there/on it.
• La meva filla deixa el pa calent = My daughter leaves the warm bread.

The second version no longer clearly includes the idea of there/on the tray.

It is most naturally after drying the tray.

However, depending on context, English might sometimes translate it as after having dried the tray to make the sequence extra explicit. Catalan does not need a separate perfect form here; després de + infinitive already gives the idea that this action happened before the main one.

So the Catalan phrase is simple, but English can render it in more than one way:

• after drying the tray
• after having dried the tray