Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Vamos al parque después de la escuela.

Vamos al parque… = We go / We are going to the park…
Nosotros vamos al parque… is also correct, but nosotros adds emphasis, like:
- We (as opposed to someone else) are going to the park…

In neutral, everyday speech, Spanish speakers in Spain would usually just say Vamos al parque… without nosotros.

Why do you say al parque and not a el parque?

In Spanish, a + el contracts to al:

a + el parque → al parque
a + el cine → al cine
a + el médico → al médico

You must always use the contraction al, not a el, in standard Spanish, except in very rare, special cases (like when el is a pronoun, not an article, which is not the case here).

So Vamos al parque is correct; Vamos a el parque is wrong.

What is the role of a in vamos al parque? Why not use en?

A here shows movement toward a place: to the park.

ir a = to go to (a place)
- Voy a casa. – I’m going home.
- Vamos al parque. – We’re going to the park.

En usually indicates location or being inside/on something, not movement:

Estamos en el parque. – We are in the park.
Jugamos en el parque. – We play in the park.

So:

Vamos al parque = We are going to the park (movement).
Estamos en el parque = We are in the park (location).

Why is parque masculine? How do I know it’s el parque and not la parque?

The gender of most nouns in Spanish is grammatical, not logical. You simply have to learn the noun with its article:

el parque – the park (masculine)
la casa – the house (feminine)

Some patterns help, but they’re not perfect:

Many nouns ending in -o are masculine: el libro, el perro.
Many ending in -a are feminine: la mesa, la silla.
Nouns ending in -e (like parque) can be either; you must memorize them.

So you should learn it as el parque (masculine).

Why is the present tense vamos used if in English I’d say “We will go to the park after school”?

Spanish often uses the present tense to talk about the near future, especially when the time is clear from context:

Vamos al parque después de la escuela.
- Literally: We go to the park after school.
- Naturally in English: We’re going to the park after school or We’ll go to the park after school.

This is very common:

Mañana trabajo. – I work tomorrow / I’m working tomorrow.
Esta noche salimos. – We’re going out tonight.

If you want to emphasize the future more, you can say:

Vamos a ir al parque después de la escuela. – We’re going to go to the park after school.
Iremos al parque después de la escuela. – We will go to the park after school.

But Vamos al parque… is the most natural and common here.

What does después de literally mean, and why do we need de before la escuela?

Después by itself means after or later.

When you say “after something”, Spanish usually uses the structure después de + noun / infinitive:

después de la escuela – after school
después de cenar – after having dinner

So:

después de + la escuela is required; you can’t say después la escuela.

Compare:

Después, vamos al parque. – Afterward / Later, we go to the park.
Después de la escuela, vamos al parque. – After school, we go to the park.

Can I move después de la escuela to the beginning or end of the sentence?

Yes. Word order is fairly flexible here, and all of these are correct:

Vamos al parque después de la escuela.
Después de la escuela vamos al parque.
Vamos, después de la escuela, al parque. (less common, more “written” style)

The most natural, neutral versions in everyday speech are:

Vamos al parque después de la escuela.
Después de la escuela vamos al parque.

Why is it después de la escuela and not después la escuela?

When después introduces a noun phrase, you normally need de:

después de la escuela – after school
después de la cena – after dinner
después del partido – after the match

Without de, después la escuela is incorrect in standard Spanish.

You only use después alone when it is an adverb by itself:

Primero hacemos los deberes y después vamos al parque.
First we do our homework and then we go to the park.

What is the difference between después, luego, and más tarde here?

All three can relate to “later/after”, but they differ slightly:

después de la escuela – specifically after school (clear reference point).
luego – “then / later”; often used more loosely:
- Luego vamos al parque. – We’ll go to the park later/then.
más tarde – “later on”, usually a bit vaguer in time:
- Vamos al parque más tarde. – We’ll go to the park later.

In your exact sentence, you need después de because you are saying after [school]:

Vamos al parque después de la escuela.

In Spain, do people normally say la escuela for “school”? What about colegio and instituto?

In Spain:

el colegio / el cole is very common for primary school.
el instituto / el insti is common for secondary school / high school.
la universidad is for university.

La escuela is used, but:

Often for specific types of schools: escuela de idiomas, escuela de danza, escuela de música, etc.
It can sound a bit more generic or formal in some contexts.

In everyday Spain Spanish, pupils might more naturally say:

Vamos al parque después del cole. (primary)
Vamos al parque después del insti. (secondary)

But después de la escuela is still correct and understandable; it just doesn’t pinpoint the level of school.

Does vamos always include the listener, like “let’s go”? Or can it mean just “we go”?

Vamos can have two main uses:

Plain “we go / we are going” (describing an action):
- Vamos al parque después de la escuela.
  We are going to the park after school.
  (It might or might not include the listener; context decides.)
As an invitation or suggestion (“let’s go”), especially when said alone or with a destination:
- ¡Vamos al parque! – Let’s go to the park!
- ¡Vamos! – Let’s go! / Come on!

In your sentence with después de la escuela, it’s more like a statement about a plan than a direct invitation.

Is there a more “future-like” way to say this, similar to English “We’re going to go to the park”?

Yes, Spanish has a “going to” future using ir a + infinitive:

Vamos a ir al parque después de la escuela.
Literally: We are going to go to the park after school.

This form:

Emphasizes the future plan a bit more.
Is very commonly used in speech.

All of these are possible, with slightly different nuance:

Vamos al parque después de la escuela. – We go / We’re going (present used as near future).
Vamos a ir al parque después de la escuela. – We’re going to go to the park.
Iremos al parque después de la escuela. – We will go to the park. (more formal / written or more distant future)

How do you pronounce después and where is the stress?

Después is pronounced roughly like dess-PWEHS in English approximation.

Details:

It has two syllables: des–pués.
The stress is on the second syllable: des-PUÉS.
The ue is a diphthong, pronounced as one syllable, like we in wet but a bit stronger: pues ~ “pwehs”.

You can think of it as:

des (like “dess”) + pués (like “pwehs”) → des-PUÉS.

Why is it de la escuela and not just de escuela?

In Spanish, when you refer to a specific, known concept like “school” in this everyday sense, you normally use the definite article:

después de la escuela – after school
después del trabajo – after work
después de la cena – after dinner

Omitting the article would sound odd here (después de escuela is not natural).

Spanish uses definite articles more often than English:

Me duele la cabeza. – My head hurts. (literally: the head)
Después de la escuela. – After school. (literally: after the school)

So de la escuela is the normal, idiomatic form.