Dopo aver usato la spatola, la lascio vicino all’insalatiera.

In Italian, after dopo when you mean after doing something, you normally use the infinitive construction dopo + avere/essere + past participle.

So:

• dopo aver usato = after using
• literally: after having used

You cannot normally say dopo usato in standard Italian.

This structure is very common:

• Dopo aver mangiato = after eating
• Dopo essere arrivato = after arriving

Here, usare takes avere, so you get aver usato.

Aver is just the shortened form of avere before another word, especially in fixed expressions like this.

So these mean the same thing:

• dopo avere usato
• dopo aver usato

But dopo aver usato is much more natural and common.

The same happens with essere:

• dopo essere uscito
• not usually shortened in the same way, but avere is very often reduced to aver

Here la is a direct object pronoun, meaning it.

It refers back to la spatola.

So:

• la spatola = the spatula
• la lascio = I leave it

Because spatola is feminine singular, the pronoun is la.

Compare:

• il coltello → lo lascio = I leave it
• la forchetta → la lascio = I leave it
• i piatti → li lascio = I leave them
• le posate → le lascio = I leave them

In Italian, object pronouns usually come before the conjugated verb.

So:

• Lascio la spatola = I leave the spatula
• La lascio = I leave it

This is normal word order for pronouns in Italian.

English puts it after the verb, but Italian usually puts la/lo/li/le before it.

Yes, grammatically you could, but it sounds repetitive. Italian, like English, usually prefers a pronoun once the object is already clear.

So:

• Dopo aver usato la spatola, la lascio vicino all’insalatiera. = natural
• Dopo aver usato la spatola, lascio la spatola vicino all’insalatiera. = correct but repetitive

Using la sounds smoother and more natural.

All’ is a contraction of a + l’.

The noun is:

• l’insalatiera = the salad bowl

With vicino a you use the preposition a:

• vicino a l’insalatiera → contracted to vicino all’insalatiera

So:

• vicino all’insalatiera = near the salad bowl

This kind of contraction is very common in Italian:

• a + il = al
• a + lo = allo
• a + la = alla
• a + l’ = all’
• a + i = ai
• a + gli = agli
• a + le = alle

Yes, when vicino means near/close to and is followed by a noun or pronoun, it normally takes a.

Examples:

• vicino alla porta = near the door
• vicino al tavolo = near the table
• vicino a me = near me

So in your sentence:

• vicino all’insalatiera = near the salad bowl

Italian often uses the present tense to describe a habitual action or a normal sequence of actions.

So this sentence can mean something like:

• After using the spatula, I leave it near the salad bowl.

That sounds natural in English too when describing a routine.

The first part, dopo aver usato la spatola, tells you that one action happens before the other. The main verb lascio stays in the present because the speaker is talking about what they generally do or what they are doing in this context.

If you wanted a past narrative, you might say:

• Dopo aver usato la spatola, l’ho lasciata vicino all’insalatiera.
  = After using the spatula, I left it near the salad bowl.

Yes. The Italian present tense can cover both:

• I leave it
• I am leaving it

The exact meaning depends on context.

So la lascio vicino all’insalatiera could mean:

• a routine action: I leave it near the salad bowl
• an action happening now: I’m leaving it near the salad bowl

Italian uses the simple present more broadly than English does.

Here usato is the past participle of usare, and it is part of the verbal expression aver usato.

So:

• usare = to use
• ho usato = I used / I have used
• aver usato = to have used / having used

In this sentence, it is not functioning as an adjective. It is part of the infinitive perfect construction after dopo.

Usually, yes. Insalatiera most commonly means salad bowl, the bowl used for serving or mixing salad.

Depending on context, it can also simply refer to a bowl intended for salad, not necessarily one with salad in it at that moment.

So in this sentence, vicino all’insalatiera means near the salad bowl.

Yes, that is grammatically possible.

Both of these are correct:

• Dopo aver usato la spatola, la lascio vicino all’insalatiera.
• La lascio vicino all’insalatiera dopo aver usato la spatola.

The original version sounds a bit more natural if you want to emphasize the sequence: first using the spatula, then leaving it nearby.

Putting dopo aver usato la spatola first helps set the scene immediately.

Italian often leaves out subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

Here:

• lascio = I leave

The ending -o tells you the subject is io.

So:

• (Io) la lascio = I leave it

Including io is possible, but usually unnecessary unless you want emphasis or contrast:

• Io la lascio vicino all’insalatiera, non tu.
  = I leave it near the salad bowl, not you.