Después de la escuela, quiero cantar.

After school, I want to sing.

Breakdown of Después de la escuela, quiero cantar.

• yo: I
• querer: to want
• la escuela: the school
• cantar: to sing
• después de: after

Questions & Answers about Después de la escuela, quiero cantar.

Why do we say después de la escuela instead of just después la escuela?

In Spanish, when indicating after something, you usually include the preposition de. So you say después de la escuela (literally after of the school). Omitting de would be incorrect in this context.

Why is it quiero cantar and not quiero canto?

In Spanish, when one verb follows another (like querer), the second verb typically remains in its infinitive form (cantar, not canto). This is because the first verb (here, quiero) is conjugated, and the second just indicates the action in its basic form.

Can I say Quiero cantar después de la escuela instead?

Yes. In Spanish, word order can often vary. Después de la escuela, quiero cantar and Quiero cantar después de la escuela both mean the same thing. The first version emphasizes after school more strongly, while the second focuses more on I want to sing.

What if I want to refer to a specific school level, like high school?

You can replace la escuela with something more specific like el instituto (common in Spain for high school) or el colegio (in some contexts). The structure remains the same: Después del instituto, quiero cantar.

Does después de work with other time references too?

Yes, you can use después de with many time references or events. For example, después de cenar, después de trabajar, or después de las vacaciones. The format "después de + noun/infinitive" is a helpful pattern to remember.