Después dejamos de usar la rejilla de enfriamiento.

Después by itself means afterwards / later / then.

• Después = an adverb
• Después de = after
  • a noun, pronoun, or infinitive

So:

• Después dejamos de usar la rejilla de enfriamiento. = Afterwards, we stopped using the cooling rack.
• Después de eso, dejamos de usar la rejilla de enfriamiento. = After that, we stopped using the cooling rack.

A native English speaker often expects after to need something after it, but in Spanish después can stand alone.

Dejar de + infinitive is a very common Spanish structure meaning to stop doing something.

So:

• dejar de usar = to stop using

In this sentence:

• dejamos de usar = we stopped using

This is a fixed pattern, so it’s best to learn it as a chunk:

• dejar de fumar = to stop smoking
• dejar de hablar = to stop talking
• dejar de usar = to stop using

Because dejar de + infinitive is the structure that means to stop doing something.

Compare:

• dejar de usar = to stop using
• dejar usar = to let/allow someone use

So the de changes the meaning a lot.

For example:

• Dejamos de usar la rejilla. = We stopped using the rack.
• Dejamos usar la rejilla a Marta. = We let Marta use the rack.

That little de is essential here.

Yes. Here dejamos is understood as preterite, so it means we stopped.

The preterite is used for a completed action in the past, especially in a sequence of events:

• Primero horneamos el bizcocho. Después dejamos de usar la rejilla de enfriamiento.

That sounds like a finished event in a timeline.

One important thing: dejamos can also be present tense (we leave), because the nosotros form looks the same in the present and preterite for -ar verbs.

So context tells you which one it is:

• Ahora dejamos de usarla. = Now we’re stopping using it / we stop using it.
• Después dejamos de usarla. = Afterwards we stopped using it.

Here, después strongly suggests a past sequence.

Because Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns when the verb ending already tells you who the subject is.

• dejamos already tells you it means we

So:

• Después dejamos de usar la rejilla de enfriamiento.
• Después nosotros dejamos de usar la rejilla de enfriamiento.

Both are grammatical, but the version without nosotros is more natural unless you want emphasis or contrast.

For example:

• Ellos siguieron usándola, pero nosotros dejamos de usarla.

There, nosotros adds contrast.

Spanish uses definite articles (el, la, los, las) more often than English.

So even when English might say:

• we stopped using the cooling rack

Spanish often prefers:

• dejamos de usar la rejilla de enfriamiento

The article la suggests a specific rack that is known from the context, or simply the relevant rack in that situation.

Leaving out the article would usually sound less natural here.

Literally, it means something like rack/grid for cooling.

• rejilla = small rack / grid / wire rack
• enfriamiento = cooling

So rejilla de enfriamiento is the standard kind of noun phrase where Spanish uses:

• noun + de + noun

This often corresponds to an English compound noun:

• mesa de comedor = dining table
• cepillo de dientes = toothbrush
• rejilla de enfriamiento = cooling rack

The de here does not mean possession. It describes the type or purpose of the object.

Yes, you could, and it would be understandable.

• rejilla de enfriamiento = cooling rack
• rejilla para enfriar = rack for cooling

Both make sense. The version with de + noun often sounds a bit more like a set object name, while para + infinitive emphasizes purpose more directly.

In many contexts, rejilla de enfriamiento sounds more like the standard label for the item.

Yes. Spanish word order is fairly flexible.

These are all possible:

• Después dejamos de usar la rejilla de enfriamiento.
• Dejamos de usar la rejilla de enfriamiento después.
• Dejamos después de usar la rejilla de enfriamiento. — this one is not the same and is usually not what you want

The first one is the most natural if you mean afterwards as a time marker for the whole sentence.

Putting después at the end is possible, but the sentence-initial position is often clearer and more natural in narration.

Yes. Luego and después can both mean later / then / afterwards.

So you could say:

• Luego dejamos de usar la rejilla de enfriamiento.

That said:

• después = very neutral and widely used
• luego = also common, but depending on context and region, it can feel slightly different in tone

In Spain, both are normal. In this sentence, either works well.

Yes, in many contexts:

• paramos de usar la rejilla de enfriamiento
• dejamos de usar la rejilla de enfriamiento

Both can mean we stopped using the cooling rack.

But dejar de + infinitive is especially common and often feels like the default way to say stop doing something.

Parar de + infinitive is also common, but can sound a bit more like to cease / to stop in progress. In many everyday contexts, though, the difference is small.

Yes, enfriamiento is a noun meaning cooling.

Spanish often uses a noun where English might also use a noun, adjective, or participle in a compound expression.

So:

• rejilla de enfriamiento = literally rack of cooling
• natural English: cooling rack

Spanish could also use a verbal idea, such as:

• rejilla para enfriar

But with object names, noun-based structures like de enfriamiento are very common.

Yes — there are three very useful patterns here:

1. después = afterwards / then

   • Después salimos.
   • Afterwards we left.

2. dejar de + infinitive = to stop doing something

   • Dejé de fumar.
   • I stopped smoking.

3. noun + de + noun for naming objects

   • rejilla de enfriamiento
   • botella de agua
   • mesa de cocina

If you remember those three patterns, this sentence becomes much easier to understand and reuse.