Breakdown of Podemos hablar después de que se duerman los niños.
el niño
the boy / the child
hablar
to speak
dormir
to sleep
poder
to be able to
se
himself / herself / themselves (reflexive)
después de que
after (conjunction)
Questions & Answers about Podemos hablar después de que se duerman los niños.
Why is the verb se duerman in the subjunctive rather than the normal present tense?
The phrase después de que (after) triggers the subjunctive when it refers to an action that hasn't happened yet. Since the children haven't fallen asleep at the time of speaking, you must use the subjunctive se duerman instead of the indicative se duermen.
Why do we use the pronoun se here instead of just saying duerman los niños?
Could we just say después de dormirse instead of using que and conjugating the verb?
Not in this case. You can use después de followed by an infinitive, but usually only if the subject of both actions is the same. Here, "we" are talking, but "the children" are falling asleep. Because the subject changes, you have to use después de que plus a conjugated verb.
Why does the subject los niños come after the verb se duerman?
In Spanish, it is very common to put the subject after the verb, especially in subordinate clauses (the part after que) or with verbs that describe a state or arrival. You could definitely say después de que los niños se duerman, but putting the verb first sounds incredibly natural to a native speaker.
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