Después de clase, vamos a la cafetería con mis amigos.

After class, we go to the cafeteria with my friends.

Breakdown of Después de clase, vamos a la cafetería con mis amigos.

• el amigo: the friend
• con: with
• nosotros: we
• después de: after
• ir: to go
• a: to
• mis: my
• la clase: the class
• la cafetería: the cafeteria

Questions & Answers about Después de clase, vamos a la cafetería con mis amigos.

Why do we say después de clase instead of después clase?

In Spanish the structure for “after” + noun is después de + noun. Even though después is an adverb, when it’s followed by a noun you must insert the preposition de.
• después de clase = “after class”
• después clase would be ungrammatical

Why isn’t there an article before clase? Could I say después de la clase?

Omitting the article after después de is common in general time expressions:
• después de clase = “after class” (class as a concept or regular event)
If you want to specify a particular class, you can add the article and even name the subject:
• después de la clase de matemáticas = “after the math class”

Why do we say vamos a la cafetería and not vamos a cafetería?

Most singular, countable places in Spanish require a definite article:
• ir a la cafetería = “go to the cafeteria”
Exceptions (set expressions) include ir a casa, ir al trabajo, ir al hospital.

What’s the difference between vamos a la cafetería and vamos a ir a la cafetería?

• ir a + place = movement, “go to (somewhere)”: vamos a la cafetería can mean “we go” or “we’re going” to the cafeteria.
• ir a + infinitive = near future: vamos a ir = “we are going to go.”
So vamos a la cafetería uses ir with a destination, not the future construction.

Why do we say con mis amigos and not con mis amigos míos or just con amigos?

• mis amigos is the standard possessive adjective + plural noun.
• You never say mi amigos because mi agrees only with singular nouns; for plural you use mis.
• Adding míos (e.g. amigos míos) is redundant here—Spanish simply uses mis amigos.
• Omitting mis (just con amigos) means “with friends” in general, not necessarily yours.

Why is there an accent on the í in cafetería?

The sequence ia would normally form a single syllable (diphthong). The accent on í does two things:

1. It shows that í–a is a hiatus (two separate syllables: rí–a).
2. It marks the stressed syllable according to Spanish spelling rules.

Why does después have an accent on the ú?

Because después ends in s, the default stress would fall on the penultimate syllable (des-pues). But we want the stress on the last syllable (pues), so we need an accent on the ú to override the default rule.

Is the comma after Después de clase required?

No, it’s optional. Spanish writers often use a comma after an introductory adverbial phrase for clarity, but you can also write:
• Después de clase vamos a la cafetería…
• Después de clase, vamos a la cafetería…