Breakdown of Nach dem Spielen ziehen wir den Teppich glatt.
Questions & Answers about Nach dem Spielen ziehen wir den Teppich glatt.
The preposition nach always takes the dative case when it means after (in time).
- The noun here is das Spielen (the playing), so in the dative singular it becomes dem Spielen.
- So the structure is: nach + dem (dative article) + Spielen (noun) → nach dem Spielen.
You cannot say nach spielen, because after a preposition you need a noun or pronoun, not a bare verb in the infinitive.
You also cannot say nach das Spielen, because das is nominative/accusative. After nach you must use dative → dem.
Capitalization tells you that Spielen is being used as a noun, not as a verb.
- Verb infinitive: spielen (to play)
- Nominalized (turned into a noun): das Spielen (the playing)
German often turns infinitives into nouns to talk about activities in a general way:
- das Essen – the eating / the meal
- beim Arbeiten – while working (literally: while at the working)
- nach dem Spielen – after playing (after the playing)
Whenever the infinitive is used like this (with an article or preposition, functioning as a noun), it’s capitalized.
Both are correct, but they have slightly different nuances:
- Nach dem Spielen – focuses on the activity of playing in general. It could be free play, messing around on the floor, etc.
- Nach dem Spiel – focuses on one specific game or match (for example, a board game or a sports game).
In a context like children playing on a carpet with toys, nach dem Spielen sounds more natural, because it’s about general playtime rather than a single, defined game.
Both orders are possible in German; the choice depends on what comes first in the sentence.
German main clauses have the verb in second position (the V2 rule). The first position can be occupied by something other than the subject—for example, a time expression:
- Nach dem Spielen (1st position: time expression)
- ziehen (2nd position: finite verb)
- wir (3rd position: subject)
So:
- Nach dem Spielen ziehen wir den Teppich glatt.
- Wir ziehen nach dem Spielen den Teppich glatt.
Both are grammatically correct. The first one emphasizes when (after playing); the second is more neutral.
Der Teppich is the nominative form (used for the subject).
In this sentence, however, wir is the subject and den Teppich is the direct object, so you need the accusative case:
- Nominative: der Teppich – Der Teppich liegt auf dem Boden.
- Accusative: den Teppich – Wir legen den Teppich auf den Boden.
In Nach dem Spielen ziehen wir den Teppich glatt, we are doing something to the carpet, so den Teppich (masculine accusative) is required.
Literally:
- ziehen – to pull
- glatt – smooth
Together, etwas glatt ziehen is an idiomatic expression meaning to smooth something out / pull it smooth (for instance, a carpet, a tablecloth, wrinkles in clothes).
Word order:
- In a main clause, the conjugated verb goes in second position (ziehen) and other elements typically follow.
- The adjective glatt functions like a predicative complement to the object (den Teppich), and such complements usually go towards the end of the clause.
So the natural order is:
- ziehen wir den Teppich glatt
You normally would not say ziehen wir glatt den Teppich; that sounds unnatural.
Yes, etwas glatt ziehen is a very common fixed collocation in everyday language, especially for things like carpets, blankets, sheets, tablecloths, etc.
- den Teppich glatt ziehen – everyday, very natural
- den Teppich glätten – correct German, but sounds more formal or technical, less like normal spoken language in this context
So Nach dem Spielen ziehen wir den Teppich glatt sounds like something you’d actually say at home. Nach dem Spielen glätten wir den Teppich is understandable but stylistically a bit stiff in everyday speech.
In this sentence, glatt is not an adjective directly describing the noun (attributive). It’s a predicative adjective, describing the resulting state of the object after the action.
Compare:
- Wir haben einen glatten Teppich.
- glatten is attributive (before the noun) → it must be declined.
- Wir ziehen den Teppich glatt.
- glatt is predicative, describing what the carpet becomes → it stays in its basic form (no ending).
Other examples with predicative adjectives:
- Wir streichen die Wand weiß. – We paint the wall white.
- Er macht mich verrückt. – He drives me crazy.
Yes, that is perfectly correct:
- Nach dem Spielen ziehen wir den Teppich glatt.
- Wir ziehen nach dem Spielen den Teppich glatt.
Both mean the same thing. The difference is in emphasis and flow:
- Starting with Nach dem Spielen puts more focus on when and sounds like you’re structuring a routine: After playing, we (always) do X.
- Starting with Wir is more neutral, like simple narration of what happens.
Grammatically, both follow the verb-second rule; it’s just a question of style and emphasis.
German does allow machen + adjective:
- Wir machen den Teppich glatt. – We make the carpet smooth.
This is grammatically fine and understandable. However, for this specific action (physically straightening out a carpet), den Teppich glatt ziehen is more idiomatic and natural.
So:
- machen … glatt → correct, but more general and a bit less specific.
- glatt ziehen → standard, natural expression for this situation.
The structure stays the same; you only change the verb form and pronoun:
- Present, formal Sie:
- Nach dem Spielen ziehen Sie den Teppich glatt.
- Simple past:
- Nach dem Spielen zogen wir den Teppich glatt.
- Future:
- Nach dem Spielen werden wir den Teppich glatt ziehen.
(In future tense, glatt ziehen splits: werden … glatt ziehen.)
- Nach dem Spielen werden wir den Teppich glatt ziehen.
The parts nach dem Spielen and den Teppich glatt remain unchanged; only the conjugated verb and subject pronoun change.