Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Después de lavar mis manos, aplico crema.

In Spanish, whenever you use a preposition (like de), the verb that comes next must be in its infinitive form. So you say después de + [infinitive], for example después de comer, después de estudiar, and here después de lavar.

Why is the subject pronoun “yo” omitted before aplico crema?

Spanish is a pro-drop language: the verb ending -o clearly indicates first-person singular (“I”). Because the subject “yo” is understood from the verb form, it’s usually left out for brevity and natural flow.

Why is it “lavar mis manos” instead of using a reflexive structure like “lavarme las manos” or “me lavo las manos”?

Both patterns exist: • Lavar mis manos uses the transitive verb lavar plus a possessive adjective (mis) to mark ownership.
• Lavarse las manos (or me lavo las manos) uses a reflexive verb (lavarse) and the definite article (las).
The reflexive form is more common with body parts, but the transitive form with mis manos is also grammatically correct.

Why does this sentence use mis manos instead of las manos?

When you choose the non-reflexive verb lavar, you normally indicate possession with mis manos. If you switch to the reflexive lavarse, you drop mis and say las manos because the reflexive pronoun already signals the action is happening to your own hands.

Why is there no article before crema in aplico crema?

Here crema is a non-count mass noun referring to “cream” in general. Spanish often omits the article when you speak about things generically. If you meant a specific lotion, you could say aplico una crema (I apply a cream) or aplico la crema (I apply the cream [we talked about]).

Can I say me aplico crema instead of aplico crema?

Yes. Aplicarse is simply the pronominal form of aplicar. Me aplico crema emphasizes that you apply it to yourself and is very common in everyday speech.

Is aplicar crema the same as poner crema?

They both mean “to apply cream,” but there’s a slight nuance: • Poner crema is more colloquial and frequently used in daily conversation.
• Aplicar crema sounds a bit more formal or technical (e.g., in a medical or cosmetic instruction).

Can I replace después de with luego de or tras?

Yes. Luego de and tras are synonyms of después de: • Luego de lavar mis manos, aplico crema.
• Tras lavar mis manos, aplico crema.
Tras is somewhat more formal/literary; luego de is widespread in Latin America.