Questions & Answers about Efter att ha kammat sig och fönat håret var hon klar.
Why do we say "ha kammat" here instead of just using the past tense "kammade"?
This is the perfect infinitive construction. When you want to express "after doing [X]" to show that one action was completed before another in the past, Swedish literally says "after to have done [X]". So, we use efter att ha followed by the supinum form (kammat).
Why is there no "ha" before "fönat"? Should it be "och ha fönat"?
You don't need to repeat ha. When you have two verbs joined by och (and) that share the same helping verb, you can drop the second helping verb to sound more natural. ...ha kammat sig och fönat... is the standard way to say this.
Why does she comb "herself" (sig) but blow-dry "the hair" (håret) instead of "her hair" (sitt hår)?
Kamma is commonly used as a reflexive verb (kamma sig - to comb one's hair), which is why we need sig. For the blow-drying, Swedish prefers using the definite form for body parts and clothing (håret - the hair) rather than a possessive pronoun like sitt (her own), because it's already obvious whose hair it is.
Why is the word order "var hon klar" instead of "hon var klar" at the end?