אחרי שהוא מתקלח, הוא מחפש את משחת השיניים שלו ולא מוצא אותה.

Because אחרי means after, and Hebrew can follow it with a whole clause, just like English:

• אחרי שהוא מתקלח = after he showers / after he takes a shower

Here:

• אחרי = after
• ש־ / שהוא = that / that he
• מתקלח = showers, is showering

So the structure is basically:

• אחרי + clause

A very close literal breakdown would be:

• after that he showers

That sounds unnatural in English, but it is normal in Hebrew.

You may also see other patterns with אחרי, but this one is very common in everyday Hebrew.

שהוא is made of two parts:

• ש־ = that / which / who
• הוא = he

So אחרי שהוא מתקלח literally contains something like after that he showers.

In modern spoken Hebrew, ש־ is extremely common for linking clauses. It is one of the most useful little words in the language.

Because there are really two separate clauses:

1. אחרי שהוא מתקלח
2. הוא מחפש את משחת השיניים שלו ולא מוצא אותה

Hebrew usually states the subject again when starting a new clause, especially when the subject is explicit and clear. So repeating הוא sounds natural.

In English, we might sometimes avoid repetition more easily, but in Hebrew this kind of repetition is very normal.

מתקלח is the masculine singular present-tense form of the verb להתקלח, meaning to shower or to take a shower.

This verb belongs to the התפעל pattern, which often has a reflexive or self-directed sense. That is why it begins with מת־ in the present tense:

• להתקלח = to shower
• הוא מתקלח = he showers / he is showering

Other present forms are:

• אני מתקלח / מתקלחת
• אתה מתקלח
• את מתקלחת
• היא מתקלחת
• הם מתקלחים
• הן מתקלחות

Hebrew often uses the present tense to describe a routine, a general sequence, or a vivid narrative scene.

So:

• אחרי שהוא מתקלח, הוא מחפש...
  can mean something like
• After he showers, he looks for...

This does not have to mean it is happening right now. It can describe:

• a habit
• a typical situation
• a step-by-step sequence in a story

English also does this sometimes: After he showers, he looks for his toothpaste...

את marks a definite direct object.

Since משחת השיניים means the toothpaste and is definite, Hebrew uses את before it:

• הוא מחפש את משחת השיניים שלו = he is looking for his toothpaste

Important point: Hebrew את here does not mean with. It is just a grammatical marker showing that the noun is the direct object of the verb.

Compare:

• הוא מחפש משחת שיניים = he is looking for toothpaste
  indefinite / general, so no את
• הוא מחפש את משחת השיניים = he is looking for the toothpaste
  definite, so את appears

Because Hebrew often expresses noun + of noun using a construct chain.

Here:

• משחה = paste
• שיניים = teeth
• משחת שיניים = toothpaste

When the whole phrase is definite, Hebrew usually puts ה־ on the second noun:

• משחת שיניים = toothpaste
• משחת השיניים = the toothpaste

This is a very common Hebrew pattern.

So משחת השיניים literally looks like:

• paste of the teeth

But in natural English, of course, it is simply toothpaste.

That is how definiteness works in many Hebrew construct chains.

In a construct chain, the first noun usually does not take ה־ directly. Instead, definiteness is often shown on the second noun, and the whole phrase becomes definite.

So:

• משחת שיניים = toothpaste
• משחת השיניים = the toothpaste

Even though only שיניים visibly has ה־, the entire phrase is understood as definite.

This is one of the trickier features for English speakers, because English does not build noun phrases this way.

Hebrew possessives with של usually come after the noun:

• משחת השיניים שלו = his toothpaste

This is the normal way to say possession in modern Hebrew.

Structure:

• noun
• • של
• • possessor

Examples:

• הספר שלו = his book
• הבית שלה = her house
• המפתחות שלהם = their keys

So משחת השיניים שלו is literally something like:

• the toothpaste of him

But in natural English, it is just his toothpaste.

Because אותה agrees with the gender of the noun it replaces.

The thing he cannot find is משחת השיניים, and the head noun there is משחה, which is feminine singular.

So the direct object pronoun must also be feminine singular:

• אותה = her / it (feminine direct object)

That is why the sentence says:

• ולא מוצא אותה = and does not find it

If the noun were masculine singular, you would use אותו.

Examples:

• אני מחפש את הספר ולא מוצא אותו = I’m looking for the book and can’t find it
• אני מחפש את המחברת ולא מוצא אותה = I’m looking for the notebook and can’t find it

Because this is a normal finite verb coordinated with the previous one:

• הוא מחפש ... ולא מוצא אותה
• he looks for ... and does not find it

The verb מוצא matches the subject הוא just like מחפש does.

Using למצוא would create a different structure, like an infinitive:

• הוא מנסה למצוא אותה = he tries to find it

But that is not what this sentence is doing. Here it simply has two present-tense verbs:

• מחפש
• מוצא

with לא negating the second one.

לא is the standard way to negate verbs in Hebrew in the present, past, and future.

So:

• מוצא = finds
• לא מוצא = does not find

In this sentence:

• ולא מוצא אותה = and does not find it

Hebrew does have other negative words, but לא is the ordinary basic negation for a verb.

Yes, but the tone is different.

• לא מוצא אותה = normal, everyday, spoken Hebrew
• אינו מוצא אותה = more formal, literary, or elevated

For most everyday conversation, לא מוצא is what learners should expect to hear most often.

It can mean both, depending on context.

• הוא מחפש can be:
  • he searches
  • he is searching
  • he is looking for

In this sentence, is looking for is the most natural English translation.

This is a common issue for English speakers: Hebrew present tense does not separately mark simple present vs present progressive the way English does.

So one Hebrew form can cover both:

• הוא מחפש = he looks for / he is looking for

It could, but using the pronoun is more natural and less repetitive.

Compare:

• הוא מחפש את משחת השיניים שלו ולא מוצא אותה
  natural: He looks for his toothpaste and can’t find it
• הוא מחפש את משחת השיניים שלו ולא מוצא את משחת השיניים שלו
  grammatical, but unnecessarily repetitive

So Hebrew behaves much like English here: once the object has been mentioned, a pronoun is often preferred.

The whole phrase behaves as feminine singular, because the head noun is משחת from משחה.

Even though שיניים is plural, the grammatical agreement of the whole construct phrase follows the first noun:

• משחה = feminine singular
• therefore משחת השיניים is treated as feminine singular

That is why the pronoun is:

• אותה and not אותם / אותן

This is an important point in Hebrew construct chains: agreement usually follows the first noun, not the second.

You would change the masculine verb forms and pronouns to feminine where needed:

• אחרי שהיא מתקלחת, היא מחפשת את משחת השיניים שלה ולא מוצאת אותה.

Changes:

• שהוא → שהיא
• מתקלח → מתקלחת
• הוא → היא
• מחפש → מחפשת
• שלו → שלה
• מוצא → מוצאת

Notice that אותה stays the same, because it refers to משחת השיניים, which is still feminine singular.

Usually something like she-hu.

A rough pronunciation of the whole opening is:

• אַחֲרֵי שֶׁהוּא מִתְקַלֵּחַ

In everyday speech, Hebrew often flows together smoothly, so אחרי שהוא may sound quite connected.

A learner should especially notice:

• ש in שהוא is the sh sound
• הוא is hu
• מתקלח ends with the guttural ח, which has no exact English equivalent

That final ח is often difficult for English speakers and is worth practicing separately.