Αφού γεμίσω τον κουβά με νερό, καθαρίζω την κουζίνα με τη σφουγγαρίστρα.

Here αφού means after or once.

So the first part, Αφού γεμίσω τον κουβά με νερό, means After I fill the bucket with water / Once I fill the bucket with water.

A useful extra note: αφού can also mean since / as / because in other sentences, but in this sentence it is clearly temporal: after.

γεμίσω is the form used here because Greek wants to show that this action is seen as completed before the next one happens.

• γεμίζω = I fill / I am filling
• γεμίσω = I fill, in the sense of once I have filled

Many learners meet this as the aorist subjunctive form or perfective non-past form.

After a time word like αφού, Greek often uses this form to show a single completed action:

• Αφού γεμίσω... = After I fill / once I’ve filled...

So the idea is:

1. first I fill the bucket,
2. then I clean the kitchen.

Because after conjunctions like αφού, Greek normally does not use θα in the subordinate time clause.

English says:

• After I fill the bucket...

Greek says:

• Αφού γεμίσω τον κουβά...

Not:

• Αφού θα γεμίσω... ❌

This is a very common Greek pattern: after words like όταν, μόλις, αφού, future meaning is often shown without θα.

Because after αφού, the verb can appear directly in this form.

So:

• Αφού γεμίσω... ✅

Not:

• Αφού να γεμίσω... ❌

Learners often connect forms like γεμίσω with να, because they often see:

• να γεμίσω

But Greek also uses the same verb form after certain conjunctions without να.

As written, καθαρίζω sounds like a habitual or routine action:

• After I fill the bucket with water, I clean the kitchen with the mop.

In other words, this is the normal sequence of actions.

If you wanted to talk about one specific future occasion, Greek would more naturally say:

• Αφού γεμίσω τον κουβά με νερό, θα καθαρίσω την κουζίνα με τη σφουγγαρίστρα.
• After I fill the bucket with water, I will clean the kitchen with the mop.

So:

• καθαρίζω = habitual / general / narrative present
• θα καθαρίσω = one definite future action

Because νερό here is being used as a general mass noun: with water.

Greek often leaves out the article with substances or materials when they are meant in a general, non-specific way:

• με νερό = with water
• με γάλα = with milk
• με ζάχαρη = with sugar

If you meant some specific water already known in the conversation, then με το νερό could be used.

So here:

• με νερό = natural, general
• με το νερό = more specific, like with the water

It is the same preposition, με = with, but it has a different function in each phrase.

1. γεμίζω τον κουβά με νερό
   = I fill the bucket with water
   Here με introduces the content/material used to fill something.

2. καθαρίζω την κουζίνα με τη σφουγγαρίστρα
   = I clean the kitchen with the mop
   Here με introduces the tool/instrument used to do the action.

So the translation is the same word in English, but the relationship is slightly different.

Because these nouns are not the subject of the sentence. They are objects, so Greek uses the accusative form.

Dictionary forms are usually nominative:

• ο κουβάς = the bucket
• η κουζίνα = the kitchen
• η σφουγγαρίστρα = the mop

In the sentence, we get:

• τον κουβά = the bucket, as a direct object
• την κουζίνα = the kitchen, as a direct object
• τη σφουγγαρίστρα = the mop, after με

A few details:

• ο κουβάς becomes τον κουβά
• η κουζίνα becomes την κουζίνα
• η σφουγγαρίστρα becomes τη(ν) σφουγγαρίστρα

So this is a normal case change.

Both are possible, but τη σφουγγαρίστρα is very common.

In Modern Greek, the final -ν of την is often dropped before a consonant:

• την → τη

So:

• τη σφουγγαρίστρα = very natural
• την σφουγγαρίστρα = also understandable and not wrong

You will often see this with τον/την and similar forms in everyday Greek.

Greek often uses the definite article more freely than English, especially with familiar everyday objects and tools.

So:

• με τη σφουγγαρίστρα is perfectly natural Greek

Even if English might translate it as:

• with a mop

Greek is not necessarily making it more definite in the English sense. It is just the normal way Greek often speaks.

No, Greek word order is more flexible than English word order.

This sentence:

• Αφού γεμίσω τον κουβά με νερό, καθαρίζω την κουζίνα με τη σφουγγαρίστρα.

is natural and emphasizes the sequence:

1. fill the bucket
2. clean the kitchen

But Greek could rearrange parts for emphasis. For example:

• Καθαρίζω την κουζίνα με τη σφουγγαρίστρα αφού γεμίσω τον κουβά με νερό.

That still makes sense. The version with Αφού... first simply foregrounds the before/after relationship more clearly.

The comma separates the introductory time clause from the main clause.

• Αφού γεμίσω τον κουβά με νερό, = subordinate time clause
• καθαρίζω την κουζίνα με τη σφουγγαρίστρα. = main clause

This is very similar to English:

• After I fill the bucket with water, I clean the kitchen with the mop.

So the comma helps the reader see the structure of the sentence more easily.