Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Al día siguiente, caminamos por la acera amarilla que rodea la plaza y compramos más ajo y pimienta en el mercado. - The next day we walked along the yellow sidewalk that surrounds the plaza and bought more garlic and pepper at the market.

Al día siguiente is a set phrase meaning “on the next day” or “the following day.” It’s formed by contracting a + el, so literally “to the following day.” You could say el día siguiente by itself (“the following day”), but when you want to say when something happened, al día siguiente is the natural choice.

Why are caminamos and compramos in the preterite tense?

They describe completed actions in the past (“we walked” and “we bought”). Spanish uses the preterite for events viewed as finished. If you were describing ongoing or habitual past actions, you’d use the imperfect instead.

What does por mean in caminamos por la acera?

Here por indicates movement along or through. Caminamos por la acera literally means “we walked along the sidewalk.” Using en (“we walked on the sidewalk”) isn’t wrong, but por emphasizes the motion along its length.

Why is there no subject pronoun before caminamos?

In Spanish the subject pronoun (nosotros) is optional because the verb ending (–amos) already tells you who’s performing the action. You only include nosotros if you want to emphasize the “we.”

Why is más used before ajo y pimienta?

Here más means “more,” indicating an additional quantity of garlic and pepper. You’re saying “we bought more garlic and pepper.” If you wanted to soften it you could say un poco más de ajo y pimienta, but más alone works perfectly.

Why isn’t there an article before ajo and pimienta?

Both ajo and pimienta are uncountable (mass) nouns in this context, and you’re talking about an unspecified quantity. In Spanish you drop the article when you speak of an indeterminate amount of a mass noun: compramos más agua, not compramos más el agua.

Why is amarilla placed after acera?

Descriptive adjectives normally follow the noun they modify in Spanish. So acera amarilla (“yellow sidewalk”) is the default. Placing amarilla before acera would sound poetic or emphatic.

Why is que used and why is rodea in the present tense in que rodea la plaza?

que is the relative pronoun “that,” linking acera amarilla to the action it performs.
rodea is in the present tense because the clause describes a general or permanent characteristic of the plaza (the sidewalk circles the square). Spanish often uses the present in relative clauses for facts or enduring situations, even if the main narrative is in the past.

What’s the difference between plaza and mercado?

plaza: a public square or open space in a town or city, often a gathering spot.
mercado: a market where vendors sell food, spices, and other goods, usually in stalls or booths.