Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): El marido y la esposa hablan juntos en la cocina antes de dormir. - The husband and the wife talk together in the kitchen before going to sleep.

The gender is a property of the noun itself; it doesn’t change depending on the real person’s gender (though in this case they do match). You just have to learn the gender with each noun: el marido, la esposa, la cocina, el coche, etc.

What’s the difference between marido / esposo and mujer / esposa in Spain?

In Spain:

marido and esposo both mean husband, but marido is more common and sounds more natural in everyday speech.
mujer and esposa both mean wife, but mujer is more common in everyday speech.

So people are more likely to say:

Mi marido y mi mujer than Mi esposo y mi esposa.

In your sentence, el marido y la esposa is perfectly correct and clear; it just sounds a bit more neutral or textbook-like than typical colloquial speech in Spain.

Why is the verb hablan and not habla?

The subject is el marido y la esposa (two people), so the verb must be in the third person plural.

Singular:
- Él / ella habla – He / she speaks.
Plural:
- Ellos / ellas hablan – They speak.

El marido y la esposa = ellos (they), so you must use hablan:

El marido y la esposa hablan…

Why is it just hablan and not something like se hablan to mean “talk to each other”?

You can express “talk to each other” in different ways:

Hablar on its own often implies they are talking to each other when the context is clear:
- El marido y la esposa hablan en la cocina.
  We naturally understand they’re talking to each other.
Se hablan is also possible and slightly emphasizes the idea of “they talk to each other”:
- El marido y la esposa se hablan en la cocina.
Your sentence uses hablan juntos (“talk together”), which already clearly shows mutual interaction. That makes se unnecessary.

So hablan juntos is natural and clear Spanish; you don’t have to add se.

What’s the difference between hablan and están hablando?

Both use the present tense, but they focus differently:

Hablan (simple present)
- Can mean something they do regularly:
  - El marido y la esposa hablan juntos en la cocina antes de dormir.
    → They (usually) talk together in the kitchen before going to sleep.
- Can also describe something happening now, depending on context.
Están hablando (present progressive)
- Emphasizes that the action is happening right now, in progress:
  - El marido y la esposa están hablando juntos en la cocina.
    → They are (currently) talking in the kitchen.

Your sentence, as written, sounds like a habitual action or routine.

Why is it hablan juntos and not juntos hablan?

Both are grammatically possible, but:

hablan juntos is the most natural, neutral order. Spanish usually puts adverbs like juntos, bien, mucho after the verb.
juntos hablan is possible but more marked; it can sound poetic or like you’re stressing juntos for contrast:
- Separados no pueden, pero juntos hablan muy bien.

For a normal sentence, hablan juntos is the standard and most common order.

Could you say hablan en la cocina juntos instead of hablan juntos en la cocina?

Yes, hablan en la cocina juntos is possible and understandable, but:

hablan juntos en la cocina sounds slightly smoother and more natural.
Spanish word order is flexible, but people often prefer shorter “chunks”:
- hablan juntos (verb + adverb)
- en la cocina (prepositional phrase)

So the original order is the most typical in everyday speech.

Why is it en la cocina and not something like a la cocina?

In Spanish:

en is used for in / inside or at a place:
- Hablan en la cocina. – They talk in the kitchen.
- Comemos en casa. – We eat at home.
a is more about to a place (movement):
- Van a la cocina. – They go to the kitchen.

Since the sentence describes where they are talking (location, not movement), en la cocina is the correct preposition.

Why do we say antes de dormir and not antes de duermen / duerme?

After antes de you must use the infinitive form of the verb:

antes de + infinitive
- antes de dormir – before sleeping
- antes de comer – before eating
- antes de salir – before going out

You cannot conjugate the verb directly after de, so antes de duermen or antes de duerme is incorrect.

If you want a full clause with a conjugated verb, you use antes de que + subjunctive:

antes de que duerman – before they sleep
antes de que ella duerma – before she sleeps

In your sentence we’re using the simpler antes de + infinitive construction: antes de dormir.

Who is understood to be sleeping in antes de dormir?

The subject of dormir is understood to be the same as the subject of the main clause:

Main subject: El marido y la esposa
Expression: antes de dormir

So we understand:

They (the husband and wife) talk before they go to sleep.

Spanish often omits the subject of the infinitive when it is the same as the subject of the main verb.

Why is there la in la cocina? Could you leave it out and say just en cocina?

Most singular, countable nouns referring to a specific place need the definite article:

en la cocina – in the kitchen
en el salón – in the living room
en la casa – in the house

Saying en cocina without la sounds wrong in this context. You sometimes see article omission in headlines, labels, or special expressions (e.g. menus: pollo en salsa), but in normal sentences you need la:

Hablan en la cocina. ✅
Hablan en cocina. ❌ (not natural here)

Does antes de dormir mean literally “right before going to sleep,” or could it also mean “in the evening, before bedtime”?

It can be understood both ways, depending on context:

Literally before going to sleep (just before they lie down).
More loosely as part of their bedtime routine, sometime before they actually fall asleep.

In everyday use, antes de dormir often refers to the general “before bed” period, not just the last few seconds before closing your eyes.

Is there a more natural way in Spain to say “talk together” in this context?

Hablar juntos is correct and clear. Other very natural options in Spain would be:

charlar en la cocina antes de dormir – to chat in the kitchen before going to sleep.
hablar un rato en la cocina antes de dormir – to talk for a while in the kitchen before going to sleep.

So you might also hear:

El marido y la mujer charlan en la cocina antes de dormir.
El marido y la mujer hablan un rato en la cocina antes de dormir.

Your original sentence, however, is fully correct and idiomatic.