Learn Spanish (Latin America): Después de la operación, el cirujano se fue.

Después de la operación, el cirujano se fue.

After the operation, the surgeon left.

Breakdown of Después de la operación, el cirujano se fue.

Questions & Answers about Después de la operación, el cirujano se fue.

Why does the sentence use se fue instead of just fue?

This is a key example of a verb changing meaning when it becomes pronominal (adding a pronoun like se). While ir means "to go" (usually focusing on reaching a destination), irse means "to leave" or "to go away" (focusing on the departure itself). Since the sentence is about the surgeon leaving, we use se fue.

I thought fue meant "was" (from the verb ser). How does it mean "left" here?

The verbs ser (to be) and ir (to go) share the exact same forms in the preterite past tense: fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fueron. You have to rely on context to tell them apart. Because it is paired with the pronoun se here, we know it is the irse (to leave) meaning, not ser.

Why do we need the de in Después de la operación? Could I just say Después la operación?

You must include de. When después (after) is followed directly by a noun or an infinitive verb, you need de to connect them. You only drop the de when using después on its own to mean "afterwards" or "later" (for example: El cirujano se fue después - The surgeon left afterwards).