אחרי בדיקת הדם הלכתי הביתה לנוח.

Here אחרי means after in a time sense: after the blood test.

A useful thing to know is that אחרי can also mean behind in other contexts, but in this sentence it is clearly temporal, not physical.

בדיקת הדם means the blood test.

Literally, it is something like the test of the blood:

• בדיקה = test / examination
• דם = blood

So Hebrew uses a noun+noun structure where English usually says blood test.

Because בדיקת is the construct form of בדיקה.

In Hebrew, when one noun is directly linked to another noun, the first noun often changes form. This is called סמיכות (the construct state).

So:

• בדיקה = a test
• בדיקת דם = a blood test
• בדיקת הדם = the blood test

This is very common in Hebrew:

• ספר = book
• ספר הילד = the child’s book

Because in a construct phrase, definiteness is usually shown on the second noun, and that makes the whole phrase definite.

So:

• בדיקת דם = a blood test
• בדיקת הדם = the blood test

Even though בדיקת itself does not take ה־, the whole phrase becomes definite because הדם is definite.

This is a very important Hebrew pattern.

הלכתי is the past tense, first person singular form of הלך (to go / to walk).

So הלכתי = I went.

A useful detail: in the past tense, this form is the same for both male and female speakers.

Compare:

• הלכתי = I went
• הלכת = you went (singular)
• הלך = he went
• הלכה = she went

Because Hebrew often leaves out subject pronouns when the verb already tells you who the subject is.

Since הלכתי already means I went, you do not need אני.

So:

• הלכתי הביתה = I went home

Adding אני is possible, but it usually adds emphasis, contrast, or clarity:

• אני הלכתי הביתה = I went home / I was the one who went home

הביתה is a very common way to say home or to home after a verb of motion.

It contains an old directional ending, often called the directional ה. In simple terms, it shows movement toward a place.

So:

• הלכתי הביתה = I went home

By contrast:

• לַבַּיִת means to the house

Both can refer to going to one’s house, but הביתה is the more natural idiomatic choice for go home.

Also, the ה at the end of הביתה is not the regular the.

לנוח means to rest.

The ל־ is part of the Hebrew infinitive, like English to in to rest.

So:

• נח = rested
• לנוח = to rest

In this sentence, לנוח shows purpose:

• הלכתי הביתה לנוח = I went home to rest

That is very natural Hebrew. English sometimes says in order to rest, but Hebrew usually just uses the infinitive.

The word order can change somewhat, but this sentence has a very natural neutral order:

• אחרי בדיקת הדם = time/background
• הלכתי = main action
• הביתה = destination
• לנוח = purpose

So the sentence flows as:

After the blood test, I went home to rest.

You could move parts around, but the emphasis would shift. For example:

• הלכתי הביתה לנוח אחרי בדיקת הדם

This is still understandable, but starting with אחרי בדיקת הדם nicely sets the scene first.

Yes.

• אחרי = after
• לאחר = after

Both are correct, but לאחר is usually a bit more formal or written-sounding, while אחרי is very common in everyday speech.

So:

• אחרי בדיקת הדם הלכתי הביתה לנוח = natural everyday Hebrew
• לאחר בדיקת הדם הלכתי הביתה לנוח = also correct, slightly more formal

A rough pronunciation guide is:

a-kha-REI bdi-KAT ha-DAM ha-LAKH-ti ha-BAY-ta la-NU-aḥ

A few notes:

• ח in אחרי and לנוח is a throaty sound, not like English h
• בדיקת is stressed on the last syllable: bdi-KAT
• הביתה is stressed ha-BAY-ta
• לנוח is stressed la-NU-aḥ

So the rhythm is roughly:

a-kha-REI bdi-KAT ha-DAM ha-LAKH-ti ha-BAY-ta la-NU-aḥ