Word
Después de que el maestro curvara la rama, me senté.
Meaning
After the master bent the branch, I sat down.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Después de que el maestro curvara la rama, me senté.
de
from / of
que
that / than
la
the (feminine)
la rama
branch
Questions & Answers about Después de que el maestro curvara la rama, me senté.
Why is curvara in the imperfect subjunctive if the bending already happened?
Traditionally, después de que takes the indicative for completed past actions. However, in Latin America, it is extremely common to use the imperfect subjunctive (curvara) instead. Native speakers often do this because it mirrors the rule for antes de que, which always requires the subjunctive.
Could I use the indicative and say después de que el maestro curvó la rama?
Yes, absolutely. Using the preterite indicative (curvó) follows the traditional grammar rule for past facts and is completely correct. You will hear both curvó and curvara used in this type of sentence.
Why do we need que here instead of just saying después de?
You need que because there are two different subjects in the sentence: the master bends the branch, and you sit down. If the same person did both actions, you would drop the que and use the infinitive: Después de curvar la rama, me senté (After bending the branch, I sat down).
Would it be correct to use curvase instead of curvara?