Learn Hardcore Japanese: kodomotati ga asondaato, ribingu ga tirakatte ite, itumo souziki wo nikai kakemasu. - After the children play, the living room is messy, and I always vacuum it twice.

子供たちが遊んだあと、
- “after the children have played”
- Here 子供たち is the subject of 遊んだ, so you mark it with が.
リビングが散かっていて、
- “the living room is messy”
- Here リビング is the subject of 散かっている, so you mark it with が.
（私は）いつも掃除機を二回かけます。
- “I always vacuum twice.”
- The subject 私 is omitted but understood.

So each が belongs to its own clause. The commas show you where one clause ends and the next begins.

Is 散かっていて correct? I usually see 散らかっていて. What’s going on?

The standard form is 散らかっていて from the verb 散らかる (“to be scattered / messy, to be in disorder”).

Dictionary form: 散らかる
て-form: 散らかって
ている form: 散らかっている

So in careful, standard writing, you’d expect:

リビングが散らかっていて

散かっていて without ら is generally treated as a misspelling or typo rather than a separate correct form. In handwriting or casual typing some people might drop kana accidentally, but for learning purposes you should remember 散らかる → 散らかっている.

What does the 〜ていて in 散かっていて mean? Why not just 散かっています?

〜ている after a verb can show:

An ongoing action (“is doing”), or
A resulting state (“is in the state of having been done”).

For verbs like 散らかる, 〜ている usually describes a state:

リビングが散らかっている
“The living room is (in the state of being) messy.”

In the sentence:

リビングが散かっていて、いつも掃除機を二回かけます。

the 〜ていて (て-form of 〜ている) is used to connect two clauses. It gives the background or cause:

“The living room is messy, so / and as a result, I always vacuum twice.”

You could say リビングが散らかっています。いつも掃除機を二回かけます。, as two separate sentences. Using 〜ていて makes it flow and subtly shows the cause-effect relationship.

Why is it 遊んだあと and not 遊ぶあと? What’s the role of だ here?

あと (“after”) usually follows a plain past form of the verb to mean “after doing X”:

遊ぶ (play) → 遊んだあと “after (someone) played”
食べる (eat) → 食べたあと “after (someone) ate”
仕事をしたあと “after (I) worked”

So:

遊ぶあと is not normally used.
遊んだあと is “after (the kids) have played.”

The だ is just the past tense marker attached to the verb stem 遊ん.

What’s the difference between 遊んだあと and 遊んでから? Could I say 子供たちが遊んでから?

Both are possible and often interchangeable in everyday speech, but there are nuances:

遊んだあと
- Literally “after (they) played.”
- Slightly more neutral, often used in written Japanese as well.
- Emphasizes the time point “after X”.
遊んでから
- Literally “after doing X, then …”
- Often feels a bit more like “once they’ve finished playing, then I (do something).”
- Can sound a bit more like “sequence of actions.”

In your sentence, 子供たちが遊んだあと fits very naturally. 子供たちが遊んでから would also be acceptable and wouldn’t change the meaning much here.

Can you add に and say 遊んだあとに? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say 遊んだあとに, and both are grammatically correct:

遊んだあと、〜
遊んだあとに、〜

The に makes the time expression a bit more explicit as a point in time:

Without に, it’s just “after (they) played, …”
With に, it’s closer to “at the time after they played, …”

In many everyday sentences, the nuance is very small and both are used. In your example, 子供たちが遊んだあと、 is perfectly natural, and あとに isn’t necessary.

Why is 掃除機 marked with を? Isn’t を for direct objects of actions?

Yes, を usually marks the direct object, and that’s exactly what’s happening here.

Verb: かける (in this usage: “to run / use a device on something”)
Object: 掃除機 (“vacuum cleaner”)

So:

掃除機をかける
literally: “to apply/run the vacuum (cleaner)”
idiomatically: “to vacuum (a place).”

Japanese often uses this pattern for equipment:

アイロンをかける – to iron (clothes; literally “to apply an iron”)
エアコンをつける – to turn on the air conditioner

So 掃除機 is the direct object of かける, and that’s why it takes を.

Why do you say 掃除機をかけます instead of something like 部屋を掃除します?

Both are correct, but they focus on different things:

部屋を掃除します。
- Focus: the place (the room) is what you clean.
- “I clean the room.”
掃除機をかけます。
- Focus: the tool/action (using the vacuum).
- “I vacuum (it).”

In your original sentence, the speaker is emphasizing that they specifically use the vacuum cleaner, and they do that twice:

いつも掃除機を二回かけます。
“I always vacuum twice.”

You could also say:

いつもリビングを掃除します。
“I always clean the living room.”

but then you lose the specific nuance of “with a vacuum cleaner” and the “run the machine twice” feel.

What does 二回 do here? Could I say 二度 instead? And where can 二回 go in the sentence?

二回 (にかい) means “two times / twice.”

In this sentence:

いつも掃除機を二回かけます。
“I always vacuum twice.”

You can place 二回 in a few common positions:

いつも掃除機を二回かけます。 (original)
いつも二回掃除機をかけます。
掃除機をいつも二回かけます。

All are natural; the nuance shift is tiny. Usually, いつも sits near the beginning and 二回 close to the verb.

You can use 二度 (にど) instead of 二回, and in everyday speech they overlap a lot:

二度かけます。 – “(I) run it twice.”

Broadly:

回 is the default, neutral counter for “times (occurrences).”
度 can sound a bit more literary or formal in some contexts, but in daily conversation they’re often interchangeable here.

What does the comma and the て-form do between リビングが散かっていて and いつも掃除機を二回かけます? Is it like “because”?

The て-form often links clauses with a loose “and/so” relationship. Here:

リビングが散かっていて、いつも掃除機を二回かけます。

can be understood as:

“The living room is messy, so I always vacuum twice.”

The comma just separates the two clauses for readability; the actual grammatical connector is 〜ていて.

This て-form connection is very common and can express several relations (and, so, while). In context here, the obvious reading is cause → result:

Cause/background: リビングが散かっていて (the living room is messy)
Result/habitual action: いつも掃除機を二回かけます (I always vacuum twice)

Why is リビング written in katakana? Is it a special word?

リビング is a loanword (a 外来語) from English “living (room).” Loanwords are usually written in katakana.

So:

リビング – living room (loanword, katakana)
居間（いま） – traditional Japanese word for “living room” (kanji + hiragana)

In everyday modern Japanese, especially in families and housing descriptions, リビング is extremely common.

Who is the subject of 掃除機を二回かけます? There’s no 私は.

Japanese often omits the subject when it’s obvious from context. In this case:

（私は）いつも掃除機を二回かけます。

The missing subject is understood as 私 (“I”), because:

The speaker is describing their own usual habit (“I always vacuum twice”).
Nothing in the context suggests it’s someone else.

So although 私は isn’t spoken, native listeners automatically fill it in from context.