Na de maaltijd ruimt Anna de borden op.

Because Dutch often puts a time phrase first when the speaker wants to set the scene.

So Na de maaltijd means after the meal, and placing it first gives that information a little more prominence.

Dutch is flexible here. You could also say:

Anna ruimt na de maaltijd de borden op.

Both are correct. The difference is mainly about focus and style, not basic meaning.

This is because of the Dutch verb-second rule in main clauses.

In a normal Dutch main clause, the finite verb must be in the second position. If something other than the subject comes first, the verb still stays second, and the subject moves after it.

So:

• Anna ruimt de borden op.
  Here the subject Anna is first, so the verb ruimt comes second.

• Na de maaltijd ruimt Anna de borden op.
  Here Na de maaltijd is first, so ruimt must still be second, and Anna comes after it.

This is often called inversion.

Because the verb is opruimen, which is a separable verb.

In a main clause, separable verbs split into:

• the conjugated verb part near the front
• the prefix at the end

So:

• infinitive: opruimen
• in this sentence: ruimt ... op

Examples:

• Ik ruim de kamer op.
• Anna ruimt de borden op.

But in some other structures, the verb stays together:

• Anna wil de borden opruimen.
• De borden opruimen is saai.

So the split is normal and very important in Dutch.

Because ruimt is the present tense, third person singular form of the verb.

The full verb is opruimen.
If we look at the conjugated part, that is ruimen.

Present tense:

• ik ruim
• jij ruimt
• hij/zij ruimt
• Anna ruimt
• wij ruimen

Since Anna is third person singular, Dutch uses ruimt.

Then the separable prefix op goes to the end:

• Anna ruimt ... op

In this sentence, opruimen means something like:

• to clear away
• to tidy up
• to put away

With de borden, it usually means Anna is clearing the plates from the table after eating.

So it is not just a general cleaning verb. It often means removing things and putting them where they belong.

Dutch nouns take either de or het in the singular.

Here:

• maaltijd is a de-word
• borden is plural, and all plural nouns take de

So:

• singular: de maaltijd
• singular: het bord
• plural: de borden

That means:

• het bord = the plate
• de borden = the plates

This is very common in Dutch: a noun can be het in the singular, but de in the plural.

Dutch often uses the definite article when talking about specific things already understood from the situation.

Here, de borden means the plates — presumably the plates from the meal that was just mentioned.

If you said borden without de, it would sound more indefinite, more like plates in general.

So de borden is natural because these are specific plates connected to that meal.

Yes, that is grammatical.

Dutch allows several word orders for elements like time phrases, as long as the main rules are respected:

• the finite verb is in second position
• the separable prefix op stays at the end in a main clause

So these are all possible:

• Na de maaltijd ruimt Anna de borden op.
• Anna ruimt na de maaltijd de borden op.
• Anna ruimt de borden na de maaltijd op.

They all mean roughly the same thing, but the first one highlights after the meal most strongly.

Dutch often uses the simple present where English might use either the simple present or the present continuous.

So Anna ruimt de borden op can mean:

• Anna clears the plates
• Anna is clearing the plates

The exact meaning depends on context.

If Dutch really wants to stress an ongoing action, it can use a construction like:

• Anna is de borden aan het opruimen.

But in many everyday sentences, the simple present is enough.

No, there are other natural possibilities, depending on style and context.

For example:

• Na het eten ruimt Anna de borden op. = After eating / after the meal, Anna clears the plates.
• Anna ruimt na het eten de borden op.

Na de maaltijd sounds a little more formal or neutral.
Na het eten is also very common in everyday speech.

So the sentence you have is perfectly natural, but it is not the only possible wording.