Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Mi hermano está cansado igual que yo después del trabajo. - My brother is tired just like me after work.

Está cansado = is (feels) tired right now, in this situation (after work).
Es cansado would mean something like is tiring / is a tiring person (a permanent or habitual quality), and sounds strange if you just mean “he feels tired”.

So here, tiredness is a temporary state → está cansado.

What does igual que mean here, and how is it used?

Igual que means “the same as / just like” and is used to compare two people or things.

In this sentence:

Mi hermano está cansado igual que yo
= My brother is tired just like I am.

Structure:
[thing/person 1] + es/está + adjective + igual que + [person 2]

Examples:

Ella está feliz igual que tú. – She is happy just like you.
El clima está frío igual que ayer. – The weather is cold just like yesterday.

Can I say igual a mí instead of igual que yo?

Yes, in everyday speech many people say:

Mi hermano está cansado igual a mí.

It’s understandable and used, especially in Latin America. However:

igual que yo is more standard and sounds a bit more natural in many contexts.
Grammatically, igual que + subject pronoun (yo, tú, él…) is very common in comparisons.

So:

igual que yo (more standard, very common)
igual a mí (colloquial, also used, especially in Latin America)

What is the difference between igual que yo and como yo?

In this sentence, they are practically synonyms:

Mi hermano está cansado igual que yo.
Mi hermano está cansado como yo.

Both mean: My brother is (also) tired, like me.

Nuances:

igual que yo emphasizes “to the same degree / in the same way” a bit more.
como yo is a general “like me / as I do”.

In normal conversation, either sounds fine here.

Why is cansado masculine? What if my sibling is female?

Cansado agrees with mi hermano, which is masculine.

Mi hermano está cansado… – My (male) brother is tired.
If it were a sister: Mi hermana está cansada…

The adjective must match the gender and number of the noun it describes:

hermano cansado / hermanos cansados
hermana cansada / hermanas cansadas

If I am female, should I change anything because of yo?

Not in this exact sentence, because cansado is only describing mi hermano.

Mi hermano está cansado igual que yo…
literally = My brother is tired, just like I (am) after work.

If you want to show your own gender clearly, you’d need a separate clause:

If you’re female: Mi hermano está cansado y yo estoy cansada después del trabajo.
If you’re male: Mi hermano está cansado y yo también estoy cansado después del trabajo.

But as written, the adjective only agrees with hermano, not with yo.

Could I say Mi hermano también está cansado después del trabajo instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, that sentence is correct:

Mi hermano también está cansado después del trabajo.
= My brother is also tired after work.

Differences:

igual que yo explicitly makes a comparison: just like I am.
también simply adds: he is also tired, but doesn’t say “compared to whom” (it’s implied by context).

So:

With igual que yo → clear, explicit comparison with me.
With también → addition, but the reference person is only implied.

Why is it después del trabajo and not después de el trabajo?

In Spanish, de + el contracts to del:

de el trabajo → del trabajo

This contraction is mandatory in standard Spanish (you don’t normally say de el).

So:

después de + el trabajo → después del trabajo = after work / after the work.

Why do we need de in después del trabajo?

When después is followed by a noun, you usually add de:

después de la clase – after class
después de comer – after eating
después del trabajo – after work

So the pattern is: después de + [noun / infinitive]

Without de, después often stands alone as an adverb:

Nos vemos después. – See you later / afterward.

Why is it mi hermano without an accent, but yo with one is not mí?

There are two different words students often confuse:

mi (no accent)
- Possessive adjective: my
- Used before nouns: mi hermano, mi casa, mi trabajo.
mí (with accent)
- Prepositional pronoun: me (after a preposition)
- Used after words like para, de, a, por, sin:
  - para mí – for me
  - de mí – of me

In igual que yo, you need the subject pronoun yo, not mí, because it functions like “I” in English (not “me”):

Correct: igual que yo
Incorrect: igual que mí (ungrammatical)

Can I change the word order of después del trabajo?

Yes, Spanish allows some flexibility. All of these are correct, with slightly different emphasis:

Después del trabajo, mi hermano está cansado igual que yo.
Mi hermano, después del trabajo, está cansado igual que yo.
Mi hermano está cansado, después del trabajo, igual que yo. (less common, but possible)

Placing después del trabajo at the beginning often emphasizes the time frame:

After work, my brother is tired just like I am.

Is there anything particularly “Latin American” about this sentence?

The sentence is fully natural in Latin American Spanish, and also fine in Spain. Nothing here is region-specific.

However, you might also hear variants, especially in Latin America, like:

Mi hermano está igual de cansado que yo después del trabajo.
Mi hermano queda cansado igual que yo después del trabajo. (some regions use quedar for resulting states)

Your original sentence is neutral, clear, and widely understood across the Spanish-speaking world.