After eating - après avoir mangé - why is this wrong?

Mary S.C1Kwiziq community member

After eating - après avoir mangé - why is this wrong?

The sentence for translation was: "help clearing the table after eating."  I wrote "après avoir mangé" for "after eating" and this was marked wrong.  They wanted "après manger".  Can anyone help me understand why "après avoir mangé"   is wrong?

Asked 4 months ago
Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Mary, I suspect this is a matter of 

1. the specificity of the translation, 

2. the usual usage in French in a general directive such as this. 

Après avoir mangé - after having eaten. Après manger - after eating.

Alan G.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

The normal way of saying either "after having done" or "after doing" is "après avoir fait" as explained here:

Après avoir fait = After doing in French (auxiliary avoir)

But in the specific case of eating, there is a fixed expression "après manger" which can be used instead, and is, perhaps, more idiomatic. I don't think "après avoir mangé" is wrong, however.

There is a similar expression "après boire", but, in general, you can't use a present infinitive after après

https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/apr%C3%A8s-manger-boire-apr%C3%A8s-infinitif.1009468/

After eating - après avoir mangé - why is this wrong?

The sentence for translation was: "help clearing the table after eating."  I wrote "après avoir mangé" for "after eating" and this was marked wrong.  They wanted "après manger".  Can anyone help me understand why "après avoir mangé"   is wrong?

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