Me gusta estudiar con mis amigos después de la escuela.

the friend

Breakdown of Me gusta estudiar con mis amigos después de la escuela.

• yo: I
• gustar: to like
• la escuela: the school

Questions & Answers about Me gusta estudiar con mis amigos después de la escuela.

Why is the sentence structured as "Me gusta estudiar" instead of "Yo gusto estudiar"?

In Spanish, the verb gustar literally translates to something akin to "to be pleasing to me." So instead of saying "I like to study," you say "Me gusta estudiar," which means "Studying is pleasing to me." The structure places the activity (estudiar) as the subject that does the pleasing, and me (to me) is the indirect object pronoun indicating to whom it’s pleasing.

What does "con mis amigos" mean and could it be "con mis compañeros"?

"Con mis amigos" literally means "with my friends." You could say "con mis compañeros" if you wanted to mean "with my classmates" or "with my companions." However, in general Spanish usage, amigos often implies a personal friendship, whereas compañeros can be just classmates, co-workers, etc. Either is correct, but they convey slightly different relationships.

Why do we use "después de la escuela" and not just "después la escuela"?

In Spanish, "después" when indicating a time after an event usually requires the preposition de before the noun. So you say "después de la escuela" (literally, "after of the school"). Without the de, the phrase would be grammatically incorrect in Spanish.

Can I say "después del colegio" or "después del instituto"?