Breakdown of Efter att ha kammat sig tog han lite av hudkrämen.
han
he
ha
to have
att
to
ta
to take
av
of, by / from (cause)
efter
after
lite
a little, a bit
kamma sig
to comb one's hair
hudkrämen
the skin cream
Questions & Answers about Efter att ha kammat sig tog han lite av hudkrämen.
Why do we use ha kammat here instead of a past tense verb?
This is the perfect infinitive. We use efter att ha (after having) followed by the supinum form kammat to show that this action was fully completed before the main action in the sentence took place. While English often just uses an '-ing' word like 'After combing', Swedish literally says 'After to have combed'.
Where does the translation get 'his hair' if the Swedish sentence uses sig?
The verb kamma means 'to comb'. When you comb your own hair in Swedish, you use it as a reflexive verb: kamma sig (literally 'comb oneself'). You don't need to explicitly add the word for hair (hår); the reflexive pronoun sig makes it perfectly clear what he is doing.
Why is the word order tog han and not han tog?
Why is it lite av hudkrämen instead of just lite hudkräm?
Using lite hudkräm would mean 'a little skin cream' in general. By saying lite av hudkrämen, it means 'a little OF THE skin cream', implying he is taking some from a specific tube or jar. Notice the definite ending -en attached to the compound word hudkräm (skin cream).
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