Breakdown of Потом она прочитала текст.
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
текст
text
потом
then
прочитать
to read (perfective)
Questions & Answers about Потом она прочитала текст.
Why use the perfective verb прочитала instead of the imperfective читала?
The perfective verb прочитала focuses on the result and completion of the action. It shows that she successfully finished reading the text, rather than just describing the process of her spending time reading it.
Why does the verb прочитала end with an -а?
In Russian, past tense verbs must match the gender of the subject. Because the subject is она (she), the verb takes the feminine past tense ending -а. If a man had read it, the verb would be прочитал.
Since текст is the object being read, why didn't its ending change?
Because текст is a masculine inanimate noun (a non-living thing). In the accusative case, which is used for direct objects, masculine inanimate nouns keep their original dictionary form without any changes.
Can I translate потом as "after"?
потом translates best to "then" or "afterwards" because it stands alone to show a sequence of events. If you want to say "after" a specific event (like "after the lesson"), you would use the word после instead.