Al final de la cena, me gusta hablar con mi familia.

At the end of dinner, I like to talk with my family.

Breakdown of Al final de la cena, me gusta hablar con mi familia.

• la familia: the family
• yo: I
• gustar: to like
• mi: my
• con: with
• la cena: the dinner
• hablar: to talk
• al final de: at the end of

Questions & Answers about Al final de la cena, me gusta hablar con mi familia.

Why do we say al final de la cena instead of en el final de la cena?

In Spanish, al final de is the common way of saying "at the end of" something, implying a moment in time when something finishes. Using en el final is unusual in everyday speech and sounds less natural. It’s more typical to say al final de la cena to mean "at the conclusion of dinner."

Why do we use me gusta instead of saying yo gusto in this sentence?

The verb gustar in Spanish literally means "to be pleasing (to someone)" rather than "to like" in a direct sense. That’s why the sentence is structured with an indirect object pronoun (me) that indicates "to me." So me gusta hablar con mi familia communicates "Talking with my family is pleasing to me," rather than "yo gusto," which wouldn’t be correct in Spanish.

Could I say me encanta instead of me gusta?

Yes! Me encanta is another common way to express enjoyment, and it literally means "I love it" (or "it delights me"). So if you feel stronger about it, you could say Al final de la cena, me encanta hablar con mi familia. This is perfectly valid Spanish and carries a slightly stronger emphasis on how much you enjoy it.

Is there a difference in meaning if I say después de la cena instead of al final de la cena?

Saying después de la cena ("after dinner") focuses on the moment once dinner is completely over, without necessarily implying an immediate moment. Al final de la cena ("at the end of dinner") can suggest that you start talking just as dinner is wrapping up. While both phrases convey a similar time frame, al final de la cena emphasizes the tail end of the mealtime itself.

Which verb tense is me gusta hablar using, and why isn’t it in a tense like the present progressive (estoy hablando)?

Here, me gusta hablar uses the infinitive form (hablar) to describe an action that you enjoy in general. If you said something like estoy hablando, you’d be describing an action happening right now. In this sentence, you’re talking about a habitual preference or something you generally like to do, so the present tense with me gusta plus an infinitive is more appropriate.