После падения она поцарапала подбородок, но быстро успокоилась.

Because после requires the genitive case.

• Dictionary form: падение = a fall / falling
• Genitive singular: падения

So:

• после падения = after the fall / after falling

This is a very common pattern in Russian:

• после урока = after the lesson
• после работы = after work
• после дождя = after the rain

Here падение means a fall.

In this sentence, после падения means after the fall or after falling. Russian often uses a noun here where English might prefer a clause like after she fell.

A more explicit version would be:

• После того, как она упала... = After she fell...

Both are correct, but после падения is shorter and more compact.

In Russian, body parts often appear without a possessive word like my, your, her when ownership is obvious from context.

So:

• она поцарапала подбородок literally = she scratched chin
• natural English meaning = she scratched her chin

Russian does this very often:

• Он поднял руку. = He raised his hand.
• Она закрыла глаза. = She closed her eyes.

Because the subject is already она, it is clear whose chin is meant.

Because it is the direct object of поцарапала.

The verb поцарапать means to scratch, and the thing scratched goes into the accusative case.

For masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular is often the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: подбородок
• accusative: подбородок

That is why the form does not change.

Поцарапала is the past tense feminine singular form of поцарапать.

Breakdown:

• поцарапать = to scratch
• поцарапала = scratched

The ending -ла shows:

• past tense
• feminine singular

It matches она.

Compare:

• он поцарапал = he scratched
• она поцарапала = she scratched
• они поцарапали = they scratched

Because the sentence describes completed events.

• поцарапала = she scratched / ended up scratching
• успокоилась = she calmed down

Perfective verbs are very common when telling a sequence of finished actions in the past.

Here the story is:

1. the fall happened
2. she scratched her chin
3. she calmed down

If you used imperfective forms, the meaning would change:

• царапала could suggest repeated or ongoing scratching
• успокаивалась could suggest the process of calming down, not necessarily the result

So perfective is the natural choice here.

Успокоилась means calmed down.

The -сь is a reflexive ending, a short form of -ся. With this verb, the reflexive form is standard:

• успокоиться = to calm down
• успокоилась = she calmed down

Without the reflexive ending, успокоить means to calm someone/something:

• Мама успокоила ребёнка. = Mother calmed the child.
• Ребёнок успокоился. = The child calmed down.

So:

• успокоить = calm someone
• успокоиться = calm down oneself

Because Russian often omits repeated subjects when they are obvious from context.

So:

• она поцарапала подбородок, но быстро успокоилась = she scratched her chin, but quickly calmed down

The subject of both verbs is clearly the same person, so repeating она is unnecessary.

You could repeat it:

• ..., но она быстро успокоилась.

That is also correct, but it sounds a bit more explicit or slightly heavier.

Because но means but, and in Russian it normally joins two clauses with a comma.

So:

• она поцарапала подбородок, но быстро успокоилась

This is standard punctuation, just like in English:

• She scratched her chin, but quickly calmed down.

The basic meaning stays the same, but word order can affect focus and naturalness.

In this sentence:

• но быстро успокоилась = but she quickly calmed down

This sounds natural and neutral.

Other possible orders are:

• но успокоилась быстро
• но она быстро успокоилась

These are also possible, but they shift the emphasis slightly. Russian word order is more flexible than English, but it is not random. The original version is a very normal way to present the information.

Yes. For example:

• После того, как она упала, она поцарапала подбородок, но быстро успокоилась.

This means essentially the same thing: After she fell, she scratched her chin, but quickly calmed down.

The difference is mostly stylistic:

• после падения = shorter, more compact
• после того, как она упала = fuller, more explicit

Russian often prefers the shorter noun phrase when the meaning is already clear.