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Voy a sacar la basura después de cenar.

Voy a sacar la basura después de cenar.
I am going to take out the trash after dinner.
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Questions & Answers about Voy a sacar la basura después de cenar.

What does voy a express compared to the simple future (sacaré)?
  • Voy a + infinitive signals a near future plan or intention and is the most common way in Spain to talk about something you’re about to do.
  • Simple future (sacaré) is fine too, but it often sounds more formal, distant, or like a promise/decision made on the spot. Examples:
  • Voy a sacar la basura (I’m going to take out the trash — plan/intention).
  • Sacaré la basura (I’ll take out the trash — promise/decision, possibly less immediate).
Do I need to say yo?

No. Spanish usually drops subject pronouns because voy already tells you it’s first person singular. Use Yo only for emphasis or contrast:

  • Voy a sacar la basura.
  • Yo voy a sacar la basura (no tú).
Why sacar and not tirar, bajar, or llevar?
  • Sacar la basura = the standard way to say “take the trash out” (from inside to outside).
  • Bajar la basura (Spain) = common when you live in a building and take it downstairs.
  • Tirar la basura = to throw something away in the trash; can refer to discarding, not specifically the chore of taking the bag out.
  • Llevar la basura is understandable but less idiomatic for the routine chore.
Can I omit the article and say sacar basura?
Not for the household chore. You almost always say sacar la basura. Without the article it sounds odd or overly generic.
Why is it la basura (feminine)?

Basura is a feminine noun, so it takes la and the direct object pronoun la:

  • la basura
  • La voy a sacar / Voy a sacarla.
Can I move después de cenar to the beginning?

Yes. Both are correct:

  • Voy a sacar la basura después de cenar.
  • Después de cenar, voy a sacar la basura. When placed first, add a comma.
Do I need the de after después?

Yes. Use después de + noun/infinitive:

  • después de cenar
  • después de la cena Without de is not standard in Spain. Use del only before a masculine singular noun (e.g., después del partido), not before a verb like cenar.
Why is there an infinitive after después de instead of a form like “-ing”?
In Spanish, prepositions (like de) are followed by the infinitive, not the gerund. So you say después de cenar (after eating dinner), not después de cenando.
What if it’s after someone else has dinner (a different subject)?

Use después de que + subjunctive:

  • Después de que Juan cene, voy a sacar la basura.
  • Después de que cenemos, voy a sacar la basura. In Spain, the subjunctive is the standard choice here.
Where does the object pronoun go: La voy a sacar or Voy a sacarla?

Both are correct:

  • Before the conjugated verb: La voy a sacar.
  • Attached to the infinitive: Voy a sacarla. No extra accent is needed in sacarla. (But with affirmative commands you’d write Sácala with an accent.)
How do I say this as a routine/habit instead of a plan?

Use the present for habits:

  • Saco la basura después de cenar. To stress “usually,” add suelo:
  • Suelo sacar la basura después de cenar.
How do I express obligation rather than intention?
  • Personal obligation: Tengo que sacar la basura después de cenar.
  • General obligation: Hay que sacar la basura después de cenar.
  • Debo is more formal/literary in many contexts: Debo sacar la basura...
Is después de la cena also correct? Any nuance vs después de cenar?

Both are correct:

  • Después de cenar focuses on the action (eating dinner) and is very natural in speech.
  • Después de la cena refers to the time/event of the meal (“after dinner” as a noun phrase).
Any pronunciation tips for Spain?
  • Cenar has ce pronounced like English “th” in Castilian Spanish: [θeˈnaɾ].
  • Basura and después have an s sound [s] (not [θ]).
  • Voy a flows together: [ˈboja].
  • Después is stressed on the second syllable: des-pués.
  • Basura is stressed on su: ba-su-ra.
Is Sacaré la basura después de cenar wrong?
It’s correct. It can sound more like a promise or a slightly more distant future. In everyday speech, Voy a sacar... is more common for immediate plans.
Is bajar la basura common in Spain?

Yes, very. Especially in apartment buildings:

  • Voy a bajar la basura después de cenar. Both sacar and bajar are fine in Spain, depending on context.
Can I say Me voy a sacar la basura?
No. Sacarse would be reflexive (“take something off oneself”), which doesn’t fit here. Say Voy a sacar la basura (or La voy a sacar / Voy a sacarla).
Is basura countable? Can I say las basuras?
  • For household trash, it’s usually uncountable: la basura.
  • Las basuras can appear in specific contexts (e.g., municipal waste services, types of waste).
  • Una basura can mean “a piece of junk/a lousy thing” in a figurative sense.