Nadat Tom het gat had geboord, zette hij de boor uit en ruimde hij de tang op.

Because Nadat Tom het gat had geboord is a subordinate clause placed before the main clause.

Dutch normally separates an introductory subordinate clause from the main clause with a comma:

• Nadat Tom het gat had geboord, zette hij de boor uit.

This is very similar to English punctuation in sentences like After Tom had drilled the hole, he switched off the drill.

Because nadat introduces a subordinate clause, and in Dutch subordinate clauses the verb group usually goes to the end.

So the structure is:

• Nadat = after
• Tom = subject
• het gat = object
• had geboord = verb group

That is why Dutch says:

• Nadat Tom het gat had geboord

instead of using the more English-like order.

A useful rule:

• in a main clause, the finite verb is normally in second position
• in a subordinate clause, the verbs usually move to the end

Had geboord is the past perfect, and it shows that this action was already completed before the next past actions happened.

Timeline:

1. Tom drilled the hole
2. then he switched off the drill
3. then he put away the pliers

Dutch often uses the past perfect after nadat when one past action clearly happened before another past action.

So:

• had geboord = had drilled
• zette = switched off
• ruimde op = put away / tidied away

Using boorde would sound less natural here if you want to make the sequence very clear.

Because Dutch main clauses follow the verb-second rule.

The whole introductory clause Nadat Tom het gat had geboord takes the first position in the sentence. That means the finite verb of the main clause must come next:

• Nadat Tom het gat had geboord, zette hij de boor uit.

So the order is:

1. first slot: Nadat Tom het gat had geboord
2. second slot: zette
3. then the subject: hij

This is called inversion.

Compare:

• Hij zette de boor uit.
• Nadat Tom het gat had geboord, zette hij de boor uit.

Because uitzetten and opruimen are separable verbs.

Their basic dictionary forms are:

• uitzetten = to switch off / turn off
• opruimen = to tidy up / put away

In a main clause with a finite verb, the prefix usually splits off and goes to the end:

• zette ... uit
• ruimde ... op

So:

• hij zette de boor uit
• hij ruimde de tang op

But when the verb is not split, it stays together:

• de boor uitzetten
• de tang opruimen
• om de tang op te ruimen

Yes, it could be left out.

You can say:

• Nadat Tom het gat had geboord, zette hij de boor uit en ruimde hij de tang op.
• Nadat Tom het gat had geboord, zette hij de boor uit en ruimde de tang op.

Both are possible.

Repeating hij makes the sentence feel a bit more balanced and explicit, as if there are two full coordinated clauses:

• zette hij ...
• ruimde hij ... op

Leaving it out is also natural when the subject is clearly the same.

Yes, but they are different parts of speech.

• de boor = the drill, the tool or machine
• boren = to drill
• geboord = drilled, the past participle of boren

So in this sentence you see both:

• the tool: de boor
• the action: had geboord

This is similar to English drill as both a noun and a verb.

Because Dutch nouns belong to two article groups:

• de-words
• het-words

In this sentence:

• het gat is a het-word
• de boor is a de-word
• de tang is a de-word

Unfortunately, this usually has to be learned with each noun. There is not always a simple logic you can see from the meaning alone.

A good habit is to memorize nouns together with their article:

• het gat
• de boor
• de tang

Both come from regular weak verbs:

• zetten → zette
• ruimen → ruimde

Why the spelling looks different:

• zetten has a short vowel in the stem, so Dutch doubles the consonant in the past tense: zet → zette
• ruimen keeps its normal stem and adds -de: ruim → ruimde

Also relevant here:

• boren → boorde
• past participle: geboord

So all three verbs in the sentence are regular verbs, even though the forms look a bit different.

Because uitzetten is a normal Dutch verb for switching off a device or machine.

So:

• de boor uitzetten = to switch off the drill

English often uses turn off or switch off, and Dutch uses uitzetten in many similar situations.

You may also hear aandoen / uitdoen with some things, but uitzetten is very common for equipment, machines, and electronic devices.

Because opruimen often means tidy up, clear away, or put something back in its proper place.

So:

• de tang opruimen usually means putting the pliers away neatly after using them

It does not automatically mean getting rid of them permanently.

This is a very common Dutch verb for cleaning up a workspace, room, or tools after finishing a task.