Asking the model to read this sentence.
A sentence nobody has read before takes a minute or two, because it means asking a language model. Nothing is lost if you leave this page: the address keeps the result.
Meaning
After he had got up, he quickly brushed his teeth.
Word for word: After he up-stood was, has he himself quickly the teeth brushed.
The speaker reports a morning routine: getting up happened first (pluperfect), and brushing teeth followed (perfect). The dative reflexive with a body part is idiomatic German.
A subordinate temporal clause introduced by 'nachdem' comes first; because 'nachdem' is subordinating, the verb 'war' stands at the end of the clause. The past event of getting up is expressed in the pluperfect ('war aufgestanden'), while the later action uses the perfect with haben ('hat ... geputzt'). The reflexive pronoun 'sich' is dative because the body part 'die Zähne' is the accusative object.
Rules at work(6)
-
Nachdem er aufgestanden war,
The temporal clause introduced by nachdem occupies the front field, so the main clause begins with its finite verb 'hat'.
A subordinate clause standing before the main clause fills the first position on its own, so the main clause verb comes immediately after the comma and the subject follows it. Weil ich müde war, bin ich früh ins Bett gegangen.
Does this rule belong on this sentence? -
Nachdem er aufgestanden war
Nachdem is a subordinating conjunction, so the finite verb 'war' moves to the end of the clause.
In a subordinate clause the finite verb stands last. Where the clause also holds a participle or an infinitive, the finite verb goes after them, so the order at the end is participle then auxiliary.
Does this rule belong on this sentence? -
aufgestanden war
Getting up happened before the brushing, so the earlier of two past events takes the pluperfect.
The pluperfect describes what had already happened before some other past event. It is built like the perfect but with hatte or war instead of hat or ist, and it very often appears in a clause introduced by nachdem.
Does this rule belong on this sentence? -
sich ... die Zähne geputzt
Brushing one's teeth uses the reflexive; with a body part as accusative object the reflexive pronoun is dative.
A reflexive verb takes a pronoun pointing back at the subject. The pronoun is usually accusative, but it turns dative as soon as the verb has another direct object, which is why it is ich wasche mich but ich wasche mir die Hände.
Does this rule belong on this sentence? -
hat er sich schnell die Zähne geputzt
After the fronted subordinate clause, the finite verb 'hat' occupies the second position of the main clause.
In a German main clause the finite verb is always the second element. The first element can be the subject, but it can just as easily be a time expression, an object or a whole subordinate clause; whatever it is, it counts as one element and the verb follows it. This is why putting something other than the subject first pushes the subject after the verb.
Does this rule belong on this sentence? -
hat er ... geputzt
Putzen is transitive and not a motion verb, so the perfect is formed with haben.
The perfect is the ordinary spoken past. It is built from the present of haben in second position and the past participle at the end of the clause. Most verbs take haben, including every verb with a direct object and every reflexive verb.
Does this rule belong on this sentence?
Words(10)
- nachdem
after
conjunctionB1subordinating
Introduces a subordinate clause whose event happens before the main-clause event; usually triggers pluperfect.
- er
he
pronounA1personal
- aufstehen
to get up, to stand up
verbA2aufstehen, stand auf, ist aufgestandenmit seinseparablestrong
Separable prefix auf-; perfect formed with sein.
- sein
to be
verbA1sein, war, ist gewesenmit seinirregular
Copula here linking subject to predicate noun.
- haben
to have
verbA1haben, hatte, hat gehabtmit habenirregular
As an auxiliary it forms the perfect tenses of most verbs.
- sich
himself/herself/themselves, itself
pronounA2reflexive
Always refers back to the subject; here it is fixed to the verb 'sich mehren'.
- schnell
fast, quick
adjectiveA1schneller, am schnellsten
- der
the
determinerA1definite
Appears twice: dative feminine 'der Wirtschaft' and nominative plural 'die Beschlüsse'.
- der Zahn
tooth
nounA2pl. Zähnegen. Zahnesstrong declension
- putzen
to clean, to brush
verbA2putzen, putzte, hat geputztmit habenweak