Nach dem großen Essen bin ich satt und trinke nur noch Tee.

After the big meal I am full and only drink tea.

Breakdown of Nach dem großen Essen bin ich satt und trinke nur noch Tee.

• sein: to be
• und: and
• dem: the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
• trinken: to drink
• ich: I
• groß: big
• das Essen: the meal
• nach: after
• der Tee: the tea
• nur noch: only
• satt: full

Questions & Answers about Nach dem großen Essen bin ich satt und trinke nur noch Tee.

Why is it nach dem großen Essen and not something like nach das große Essen?

The preposition nach (meaning after in a time sense) always takes the dative case.

Common dative prepositions include:

• aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu

Because Essen is neuter (das Essen) and nach requires dative, you must use:

• dem Essen (dative neuter singular), not das Essen (nominative/accusative)

So:

• nach dem Essen = after the meal

The adjective groß has to agree with the noun in case, gender, and number.
With a definite article (dem) in the dative singular, the adjective ending is -en:

• dem großen Essen

So nach dem großen Essen literally means after the big meal and is grammatically:

• nach
  • dem (dative article) + großen (dative adjective) + Essen (dative noun)

Why is Essen capitalized here?

In German:

• Essen (capitalized) is a noun: the meal / the food
• essen (lowercase) is a verb: to eat

In the sentence, Essen is clearly a noun: it has an article (dem) and an adjective (großen) in front of it, so it must be capitalized.

Also note:

• das Essen is neuter (that is why we get dem Essen in the dative).

Why is it großen and not großes or große?

The form of the adjective depends on:

1. The article type (definite, indefinite, or none)
2. The case (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive)
3. The gender/number (masculine, feminine, neuter, plural)

Here we have:

• definite article: dem
• case: dative
• gender: neuter
• number: singular

With a definite article in the dative singular, the adjective ending is always -en, regardless of gender:

• dem großen Mann (masculine)
• der großen Frau (feminine)
• dem großen Essen (neuter)

So großen is required by the combination definite article + dative.
großes or große would be wrong in this exact structure.

Why is the word order bin ich satt and not ich bin satt?

German main clauses follow the verb-second rule (V2): the finite verb must be in the second position in the clause.

The sentence is:

• Nach dem großen Essen | bin | ich satt | und trinke nur noch Tee.

Here:

1. Nach dem großen Essen is put in the first position for emphasis or context (it answers when).
2. The verb bin must then come second.
3. The subject ich comes after the verb.

So both of these are correct, just with different emphasis:

• Ich bin satt und trinke nur noch Tee.
  (neutral order: subject first)

• Nach dem großen Essen bin ich satt und trinke nur noch Tee.
  (emphasizes after the big meal at the start)

You cannot say Nach dem großen Essen ich bin satt, because that would break the verb-second rule.

What exactly does satt mean, and how is it different from saying voll or ich bin full?

satt is the standard German word meaning full (from eating), satisfied, not hungry anymore.

• Ich bin satt. = I’m full / I’ve had enough to eat.

Important contrasts:

• satt is specifically about having eaten enough.
• voll literally means full, but in everyday German ich bin voll very often means I’m drunk (or in some regions, “I’m totally stuffed”, but that’s colloquial and can sound crude).
• ich bin full is incorrect; you cannot mix English and German like that.

So in polite, standard German you normally say:

• Ich bin satt. (I’m full from eating.)

Use voll carefully; if you want to say I’m full (of food) in normal, neutral German, satt is the safe and correct word.

What does nur noch in trinke nur noch Tee mean exactly?

nur noch is a very common combination:

• nur = only
• noch can mean still, yet, or anymore, depending on context.

Together, nur noch often means something like:

• only (now) / only anymore / from now on only

In trinke nur noch Tee, the idea is:

• After the big meal, I won’t have anything else; from this point on I’ll just drink tea.

Rough natural translations:

• I’m full and I’ll only drink tea now.
• I’m full and I’m just drinking tea from now on.

So nur noch adds the nuance that this is all the person is having from now on / any more, not just “only” in a general sense.

Why is there no article before Tee? Why not den Tee or einen Tee?

In German, many uncountable / mass nouns for food and drink can be used without an article when you mean them in a general, non-specific way.

Examples:

• Ich trinke Kaffee. – I drink coffee.
• Ich esse Brot. – I eat bread.
• Ich trinke Wasser. – I drink water.
• Ich trinke Tee. – I drink tea.

In trinke nur noch Tee, Tee is understood as tea in general, not a specific cup or serving.

Compare:

• Ich trinke Tee. – I’m (just) drinking tea (in general).
• Ich trinke einen Tee. – I’m drinking a tea / one tea (one serving, one cup).
• Ich trinke den Tee. – I’m drinking the tea (a specific tea we both know about).

So here, the article is left out because we are talking about the type of drink, not a specific portion.

Why is there no second ich before trinke? Could I say …bin ich satt und ich trinke nur noch Tee?

The subject ich applies to both verbs:

• bin (I am)
• trinke (I drink)

German (like English) allows you to omit a repeated subject in a coordinated structure when it’s the same person:

• Nach dem großen Essen bin ich satt und trinke nur noch Tee.
  (After the big meal I’m full and (I) only drink tea (now).)

It would also be grammatically correct to say:

• Nach dem großen Essen bin ich satt und ich trinke nur noch Tee.

Differences in nuance:

• Without repeating ich (…bin ich satt und trinke…): the sentence flows more smoothly and is stylistically lighter.
• With repeated ich (…bin ich satt und ich trinke…): you add a bit of emphasis to the second action, as if you’re slightly highlighting the drinking only tea part.

Both are correct; the version without the second ich is more common in neutral speech.

Does das Essen here mean food or meal? Could I also say Mittagessen or Abendessen?

das Essen can mean either:

• the food (general), or
• the meal (the event of eating)

In this sentence, das große Essen naturally suggests the big meal / the large feast, because we talk about being full afterwards and only drinking tea.

Yes, you could specify the type of meal:

• Nach dem großen Mittagessen bin ich satt und trinke nur noch Tee.
  After the big lunch I’m full and I only drink tea now.

• Nach dem großen Abendessen bin ich satt und trinke nur noch Tee.
  After the big dinner I’m full and I only drink tea now.

Here Mittagessen and Abendessen behave like neuter nouns too (das Mittagessen, das Abendessen), so the form dem großen Mittagessen / Abendessen is correct.

Could I use nachdem instead of nach? What is the difference between nach dem Essen and nachdem ich gegessen habe?

nach and nachdem are related but not interchangeable:

1. nach is a preposition and must be followed by a noun (or pronoun) in the dative:

   • nach dem großen Essen – after the big meal
   • nach dem Unterricht – after the class

2. nachdem is a subordinating conjunction and must be followed by a clause (with a verb at the end):

   • Nachdem ich viel gegessen habe, bin ich satt und trinke nur noch Tee.
     After I have eaten a lot, I’m full and I only drink tea now.

Both structures are correct but slightly different:

• Nach dem großen Essen bin ich satt…
  Focuses on the event (the meal) as a time point.

• Nachdem ich viel gegessen habe, bin ich satt…
  Focuses on the action (having eaten a lot).

Grammatically:

• nach
  • dative noun phrase
• nachdem
  • subordinate clause (verb at the end: …gegessen habe)

You choose based on whether you want to use a noun phrase or a full clause after after.