Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Después de que termine la jornada, mi esposa pasea al perro por el valle. - After the workday ends, my wife walks the dog through the valley.

After time expressions like después de que, Spanish can use subjunctive when the action is seen as not yet completed / in the future / uncertain from the speaker’s point of view.

Después de que termine la jornada…
= After the workday is (finally) over… → the end of the workday is in the future from “now”.

If the speaker is talking about something seen as a regular, factual sequence, many people use the indicative:

Después de que termina la jornada, mi esposa pasea al perro.
= After the workday ends, my wife walks the dog. (describing a routine as a plain fact)

In practice, in Latin America you’ll hear both, but:

subjunctive (termine) → emphasizes “whenever it ends / once it ends (in the future)”
indicative (termina) → emphasizes a known, factual routine

Is después de que always followed by the subjunctive?

No. It can take subjunctive or indicative, depending on how the speaker sees the action:

Subjunctive → future, not yet realized, or uncertain:
- Te llamo después de que termine la reunión.
  I’ll call you after the meeting is over. (meeting hasn’t ended yet)
Indicative → past or habitual, seen as factual:
- Siempre me llama después de que termina la reunión.
  He always calls me after the meeting ends.

So in your sentence, termine (subjunctive) is a stylistic/semantic choice, not a hard rule forced by después de que.

Could I say después de terminar la jornada instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, but it changes the structure a bit.

Después de que termine la jornada…
- que + finite verb (termine)
- Subject of termine is la jornada (the workday).
- Used when the subordinate clause has its own subject:
  - Después de que la jornada termine, mi esposa pasea al perro.
Después de terminar la jornada…
- infinitive (terminar)
- Normally used when the subject of terminar is the same as the subject of the main verb:
  - Después de terminar la jornada, mi esposa pasea al perro.
    → implies she finishes her workday and then walks the dog.

So:

If it’s clear it’s her workday, Después de terminar la jornada… is fine and very natural.
If you want the neutral idea “after the workday is over” (without focusing on who ends it), Después de que termine la jornada… works better.

Why do we need the que in después de que? Can I say después de termine or después que termine?

You must have que before a conjugated verb in this structure:

✅ Después de que termine la jornada…
❌ Después de termine la jornada… (incorrect)

As for después que vs después de que:

In much of Latin America, después de que is the most standard form in careful speech.
Después que (without de) is common in some regions and in more informal speech and is not “wrong,” but learners are usually taught después de que as the safe, neutral option.

So stick with:

después de que + [conjugated verb]

Why is it pasea al perro and not pasea el perro?

Because of the personal a.

In Spanish, when a person or a beloved pet is a direct object, you normally put a before it:

Veo a mi hermano. – I see my brother.
Quiero a mi perro. – I love my dog.

In your sentence, the dog is:

A specific dog (el perro)
Treated as a pet / companion, not just an animal in general

So you get:

pasea a el perro → pasea al perro

If you were talking about dogs in a generic, impersonal way (less common with pets), you might see no a, but with my/our dog etc., a + el perro is the norm.

Does pasear al perro mean exactly “to walk the dog”? Are there other common ways to say this?

Yes, pasear al perro is the most standard equivalent of “walk the dog” in Latin American Spanish.

Other common options:

Sacar a pasear al perro – literally “take the dog out for a walk”; very common.
Sacar al perro – often understood as “take the dog out (for a walk / to pee)”.

Examples:

Tengo que pasear al perro. – I have to walk the dog.
Voy a sacar a pasear al perro. – I’m going to take the dog out for a walk.

All of these are natural; pasear al perro and sacar a pasear al perro are especially frequent.

Why is pasea in the present tense, if the action happens after the workday ends (a future time)?

Spanish present indicative is often used for:

Habits / routines
Scheduled or predictable future events

So Mi esposa pasea al perro… can mean:

A habit: what she typically does whenever that condition is met.

Parallel in English:

“After work, my wife walks the dog.” (present, but it describes a routine that repeatedly happens in the future)

If you wanted to make the future feel more explicit, you could say:

Después de que termine la jornada, mi esposa va a pasear al perro.
Después de que termine la jornada, mi esposa paseará al perro.

But the plain present pasea is very natural for describing a regular pattern.

What exactly does la jornada mean here? Why not el día or el trabajo?

La jornada often means workday / shift / working hours.

la jornada laboral – the workday, the working shift or schedule
terminar la jornada – to finish one’s workday

Alternatives and nuances:

el día – very general “day”:
- Después de que termine el día… could mean after the day ends, not specifically the workday.
el trabajo – can mean “work / job / workplace”:
- Después de que termine el trabajo… = after the work (task) is finished, or after work is over.

In many parts of Latin America, jornada is common in work-related contexts (labor laws, schedules, etc.), and here it specifically targets the workday, not just any day.

Why is it por el valle and not en el valle or a través del valle?

All three are possible, but they highlight slightly different ideas:

por el valle
- Very common with movement; suggests moving around/throughout/in the area of the valley.
- Focus on the route or general area.
- pasear por el valle = stroll/walk around the valley.
en el valle
- Focus on location, not so much on movement along a path.
- pasear en el valle = walk in the valley (just stating where, less about “through it”).
a través del valle
- Literally “across / through the valley” from one side to the other.
- More directional/intense: crossing from point A to B.

So por el valle is the most natural if you mean “she walks the dog around the valley area.”

Can I change the word order and say Mi esposa pasea al perro por el valle después de que termine la jornada?

Yes, that’s perfectly correct and very natural.

Both orders are fine:

Después de que termine la jornada, mi esposa pasea al perro por el valle.
Mi esposa pasea al perro por el valle después de que termine la jornada.

Putting the time clause (Después de que termine la jornada) at the beginning just emphasizes the time condition a bit more. Spanish is flexible with the position of adverbial clauses like this.

Why mi esposa and not la esposa? Are there other common ways to say “my wife” in Latin America?

mi esposa = my wife (neutral, clear, widely used)
la esposa would normally mean “the wife” (of someone mentioned in context), not necessarily yours.

Other common ways to say “my wife” in Latin America:

mi mujer – very common and colloquial; literally “my woman”.
mi señora – also common, often a bit more traditional or polite-sounding.

Examples:

Mi esposa pasea al perro. – My wife walks the dog.
Mi mujer pasea al perro. – Same meaning, more colloquial.
Mi señora pasea al perro. – Same idea, slightly different tone.

For learners, mi esposa is the safest, most neutral choice.

Why is it la jornada but el valle? Is there any rule for these genders?

Jornada is feminine → la jornada
Valle is masculine → el valle

Many nouns ending in -a are feminine.
Many nouns ending in -e are masculine, but there are many exceptions.

In this specific sentence, you simply have to memorize the gender of each noun:

la jornada (feminine)
el perro (masculine)
el valle (masculine)

Once you know the noun’s gender, everything else (articles, adjectives, pronouns) must agree with it.