Breakdown of Ich fühle mich besser, nachdem ich mir das Gesicht gewaschen habe.
ich
I
haben
to have
mir
me
fühlen
to feel
mich
me
waschen
to wash
besser
better
das Gesicht
the face
nachdem
after
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Questions & Answers about Ich fühle mich besser, nachdem ich mir das Gesicht gewaschen habe.
Why is there a comma before nachdem?
In German, every subordinate clause must be separated from the main clause by a comma. Since nachdem introduces a subordinate clause here (“nachdem ich mir das Gesicht gewaschen habe”), you place a comma right before it.
Why does the conjugated verb (habe) appear at the end of the nachdem–clause?
Subordinate clauses introduced by conjunctions like nachdem follow the rule “verb final.” That means the finite verb (here habe) goes to the very end of the clause, after all objects and participles.
Why do we use the perfect tense (gewaschen habe) after nachdem, instead of simple past?
Because the action (“washing the face”) is viewed as a completed event whose result affects the present (“I feel better now”). In spoken and most contemporary German, the perfect tense is preferred for past events. Hence nachdem ich mir das Gesicht gewaschen habe rather than wusch.
Why is there a dative reflexive pronoun (mir) in “ich mir das Gesicht gewaschen”? Why not “ich mich…”?
When you wash a part of your own body, German treats the person reflexively in the dative and the body part as the direct object in the accusative.
- mir (dative reflexive) = “to myself”
- das Gesicht (accusative) = “the face”
If you said ich wasche mich, you’d mean “I wash myself” (my whole body), without specifying a body part.
What case is das Gesicht, and why?
das Gesicht is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb waschen. The action of washing directly affects the face, so it takes accusative.
Why is sich fühlen reflexive in the main clause (“Ich fühle mich besser”)?
sich fühlen is always reflexive when you talk about your own feelings or physical state. You never say “Ich fühle besser”; you must say Ich fühle mich besser, using the accusative reflexive pronoun that matches the subject (ich→mich, du→dich, etc.).
Could we use nach + noun instead of nachdem + clause?
Yes. If you want to use nach (a preposition), you need a noun or nominalized verb with an article:
• Nach dem Waschen fühle ich mich besser.
But if you want a clause with its own subject and verb, you use the conjunction nachdem:
• Nachdem ich mir das Gesicht gewaschen habe, fühle ich mich besser.