Después de trabajar, me gusta relajarme en casa.

After work, I like to relax at home.

Breakdown of Después de trabajar, me gusta relajarme en casa.

• yo: I
• la casa: the house
• gustar: to like
• en: in
• después de: after
• trabajar: to work
• relajarse: to relax

Questions & Answers about Después de trabajar, me gusta relajarme en casa.

What does después de trabajar mean, and what role does it play in the sentence?

It means “after working” and serves as an adverbial phrase setting the temporal context. It tells you when the main action (liking to relax at home) happens.

Why is the verb relajar written in its reflexive form relajarme in this sentence?

In Spanish, many verbs related to personal activities are used reflexively. Relajarse means “to relax oneself,” so relajarme indicates that the speaker is performing the action on themselves. This reflexive form is standard when describing actions like relaxing.

How does the structure me gusta + infinitive work here, and how is it different from English?

The phrase me gusta + [infinitive] literally translates as “[infinitive] pleases me.” In the sentence, me gusta relajarme en casa conveys “relaxing at home pleases me” or, more naturally, “I like to relax at home.” Unlike English, where the subject “I” expresses liking, Spanish structures it so that the activity (relaxing) is the subject that appeals to the indirect object (me).

Why do we use the infinitive trabajar after después de instead of a conjugated verb?

Prepositions like después de (after) are followed by a noun or an infinitive when referring to actions. Using the infinitive trabajar properly conveys the general activity of working that comes before the main action in the sentence.

What is the function of the comma in Después de trabajar, me gusta relajarme en casa.?

The comma separates the introductory adverbial phrase from the main clause. This not only clarifies the sentence’s structure but also indicates a natural pause after setting the time frame, making it easier to understand the flow of actions.