Я стираю полотенце после купания.

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Breakdown of Я стираю полотенце после купания.

• после: after
• стирать: to wash
• полотенце: the towel

Questions & Answers about Я стираю полотенце после купания.

Why do we use the verb стираю here and not something like мою?

In Russian, стирать means “to wash textiles” (clothes, towels) – usually with water and detergent, by hand or machine. Мыть is used for washing hard surfaces, dishes, or the body. So you стираете полотенце, а не моете его. Also, стираю is the imperfective aspect: it stresses the ongoing or habitual process, whereas the perfective постираю would stress completion.

What case is полотенце, and why doesn’t its form change?

Полотенце is in the accusative case as the direct object of стираю. Neuter nouns ending in -е have identical nominative and accusative singular forms, so полотенце stays the same.

Why is купания in the genitive case?

The preposition после requires the genitive case. Here купание (the act of bathing) becomes купания in genitive singular to mean “after bathing.”

What part of speech is купания, and why isn’t a verb used there?

Купания is a noun of action (a deverbal noun) derived from the verb купаться. Russian often uses these nouns after prepositions for conciseness. You could use a clause with a verb instead (see next question), but после купания is more compact.