אחרי שאני משתמשת בכרטיס, אני מחזירה אותו לארנק.

שאני is ש + אני.

Here ש־ means something like that / when and connects a full clause to אחרי.

So:

• אחרי = after
• אני משתמשת בכרטיס = I use the card

Put together:

• אחרי שאני משתמשת בכרטיס = after I use the card / after I’m using the card

In Hebrew, when after is followed by a whole clause, you usually need ש־.

Compare:

• אחרי הארוחה = after the meal
• אחרי שאני אוכלת = after I eat

Because the speaker is feminine singular: I said by a woman.

In Hebrew, present-tense verbs agree with gender and number.

So:

• אני משתמשת = I use / I am using (said by a woman)
• אני משתמש = I use / I am using (said by a man)

And:

• אני מחזירה = I return (said by a woman)
• אני מחזיר = I return (said by a man)

If a male speaker said the whole sentence, it would be:

• אחרי שאני משתמש בכרטיס, אני מחזיר אותו לארנק.

Hebrew often uses the present tense for habitual actions or general routines, just like English can.

This sentence describes a repeated action:

• After I use the card, I return it to the wallet.

So Hebrew uses present forms:

• משתמשת = use / am using
• מחזירה = return / am returning

It does not have to mean only right now. It can mean a regular habit.

Because the verb להשתמש works with the preposition ב־.

So in Hebrew you use something as:

• להשתמש ב...

Examples:

• אני משתמשת בכרטיס = I use the card
• הוא משתמש במחשב = he uses the computer
• אנחנו משתמשים בטלפון = we use the phone

This is just how the verb works in Hebrew.
So you do not say:

• משתמשת את הכרטיס ❌

You say:

• משתמשת בכרטיס ✅

It can be ambiguous in writing, because Hebrew prepositions often combine with ה־.

So בכרטיס can represent either:

• בְּכרטיס = with a card / using a card
• בַּכרטיס = with the card / using the card

They are written the same way in normal unvowelled Hebrew, but pronounced differently.

In this sentence, context strongly suggests a specific card, especially because later we get אותו = it, referring to that same card.

So here the learner will usually understand it as:

• using the card

אותו means him / it as a masculine singular direct object pronoun.

Here it refers to כרטיס, which is a masculine noun.

So:

• כרטיס = card (masculine)
• אותו = it (masculine singular object)

That is why the sentence says:

• אני מחזירה אותו = I return it

If the noun were feminine, Hebrew would use אותה instead.

Because כרטיס is simply a masculine noun in Hebrew.

Grammatical gender in Hebrew is part of the noun, and it affects agreement and pronouns.

So:

• כרטיס חדש = a new card
• הכרטיס הזה = this card
• אני מחזירה אותו = I return it

Even though card is not naturally male or female, Hebrew still assigns it grammatical gender.

Hebrew often combines prepositions with ה־.

So:

• ל + הארנק becomes לארנק

This means:

• to the wallet

So לארנק is a shortened combined form, not a different word.

Similarly:

• ב + הבית → בבית
• כ + הספר → כספר in theory, though some combinations are less common in everyday use

In this sentence:

• אני מחזירה אותו לארנק = I return it to the wallet

Yes, but the meaning would shift.

• אחרי שאני משתמשת בכרטיס, אני מחזירה אותו לארנק.
  = a general habit / routine: after I use the card, I return it

• אחרי שהשתמשתי בכרטיס, החזרתי אותו לארנק.
  = a specific past event: after I used the card, I returned it to the wallet

So the original sentence is natural if you are talking about what you usually do.

The most natural order here is:

• subject + verb + object + destination

So:

• אני מחזירה אותו לארנק

Hebrew usually places the direct object pronoun after the verb.

This is the normal, straightforward order for a sentence like this.

You may hear other orders for emphasis in some contexts, but this version is the standard and most neutral one.

In this sentence, מחזירה is best understood as return / put back.

The verb להחזיר often means:

• to return
• to give back
• to bring back
• to put back

So here:

• אני מחזירה אותו לארנק

means that after using the card, the speaker puts it back into the wallet.

So even if the English translation says return, the practical sense here is very close to put back.

Hebrew often leaves possession unstated when it is obvious from context.

If someone says:

• אני מחזירה אותו לארנק

the natural assumption is that they mean my wallet, unless context suggests otherwise.

If the speaker wants to be explicit, they can say:

• אני מחזירה אותו לארנק שלי = I return it to my wallet

So the shorter version is normal and natural.