Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Después del ejercicio, tengo sudor en la frente. - After exercising, I have sweat on my forehead.

Because in Spanish, when de is followed by the masculine singular article el, they merge into del. It's just a contraction rule: de + el = del.

Why can’t we say Después de ejercicio the way we'd say Después de correr?

When después de is followed by a verb in its infinitive form (like correr), no article is needed. Here, ejercicio is a noun, not an infinitive, so Spanish grammar requires a definite article before it. That’s why you say Después del ejercicio, not Después de ejercicio.

Can I say Después de hacer ejercicio instead of Después del ejercicio?

Yes. Después de hacer ejercicio literally means “after doing exercise” and is very common. Después del ejercicio (“after the exercise”) focuses on the noun ejercicio. Both are correct and interchangeable in most contexts.

Why do we say tengo sudor en la frente instead of estoy sudando?

Estoy sudando means “I am sweating” (emphasizing the action). Tengo sudor en la frente literally means “I have sweat on my forehead,” focusing on the physical presence of sweat. Both express a similar idea, but one uses a verb to describe the action, the other uses a noun to describe the result.

Why don't we say estoy sudoroso or estoy sudado?

While sudoroso (“sweaty”) is an adjective you could use, it’s less common in everyday speech. Estar sudado isn’t standard. Native speakers more often talk about having sudor somewhere (tengo sudor en…) or use estoy sudando to describe the action.

Could we say tengo la frente sudada?

Yes, tengo la frente sudada (“I have a sweaty forehead”) is grammatically correct and understandable. However, tengo sudor en la frente is more literal and often more common in Latin American Spanish when you want to describe the actual sweat on your forehead.

Why does the sentence use en la frente and not sobre la frente?

In Spanish, en is the most natural preposition to indicate something is on a part of the body. Sobre la frente is also correct (“on the forehead”), but it sounds slightly more formal or bookish. In everyday speech, en la frente is preferred.

Why do we use la frente instead of mi frente?

Spanish often uses the definite article with body parts rather than a possessive adjective when the owner is clear from context. So instead of mi frente, we say la frente because it’s understood that it belongs to the speaker.

Why does Después have an accent mark?

Spanish uses written accents to show where the stress falls in words that don’t follow default stress rules. Después is stressed on the last syllable, but because it ends in s, it would normally be stressed on the second-to-last syllable. The accent mark on é tells us to stress the final syllable: des-puÉS.

What does frente mean here?

In this sentence, frente means forehead (the part of your face above your eyes). It does not mean face (cara) or front in a more abstract sense.