Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Después mi madre me contó que la guía había explicado todo eso en la videollamada del viernes. - Afterwards my mother told me that the guide had explained all that in Friday’s video call.

Adverb on its own (meaning afterwards / later):
- Después mi madre me contó… = Afterwards, my mother told me…
- Here it introduces the next event in the story, not another verb in infinitive or a noun.
With de when followed by a noun or infinitive:
- Después de la cena, nos fuimos. = After dinner, we left.
- Después de hablar con ella, lo entendí. = After talking to her, I understood.

You could also say:

Después, mi madre me contó… (adding a comma) – stylistically very common. But you wouldn’t say:
Después de mi madre me contó… (incorrect here).

Should there be a comma after Después? Is Después mi madre me contó… correct?

Yes, it’s correct without a comma, but many writers would prefer a comma:

Después mi madre me contó…
Después, mi madre me contó… ✅ (very common)

In Spanish, a short adverb like después at the beginning of the sentence can take a comma, especially when it clearly marks a change in time or topic. It’s more a matter of style and rhythm than strict grammar here. Most teachers would recommend the comma: Después, mi madre…

Why is it mi madre me contó and not mi madre contó a mí?

In Spanish, the normal way to express to me is with the indirect object pronoun:

me = (to) me
te = (to) you
le = (to) him/her
nos = (to) us
os = (to) you (plural, Spain)
les = (to) them

So:

Mi madre me contó… = My mother told me…
- me goes before the conjugated verb contó.

You can say Mi madre contó algo a mí, but:

It sounds emphatic or contrastive (to me, not to someone else).
Everyday, neutral Spanish strongly prefers mi madre me contó.

So the pronoun me is the natural, default choice.

What is the difference between contar and decir here? Could I say mi madre me dijo instead?

Both verbs can translate as to tell, but they’re used a bit differently:

contar: to tell (a story, what happened, some information in a more extended way)
- Mi madre me contó que la guía había explicado todo eso…
- Suggests she related / recounted what the guide had said.
decir: to say, to tell (more neutral, often for shorter statements or direct speech)
- Mi madre me dijo que la guía había explicado todo eso…
- Also correct; sounds a bit more neutral/flat.

In this sentence, contar fits very well because the mother is telling a whole explanation that the guide had already given. But me dijo que… would also be grammatically correct.

Why is the pronoun me placed before contó? Could I say mi madre contó me?

Clitic pronouns like me, te, lo, la, le usually go:

before a conjugated verb:
- Mi madre me contó… ✅
- Mi madre me lo explicó. ✅

You cannot say:

Mi madre contó me… ❌

Exception: when the verb is in infinitive or gerund, the pronoun can be attached to the end:

contarme = to tell me
estaba contándome = was telling me

But with a simple past like contó, the pronoun must go before: me contó.

Why is there que after me contó? Why not me contó la guía había explicado…?

Que introduces a subordinate clause (reported speech):

Mi madre me contó que la guía había explicado todo eso…
- literally: My mother told me *that the guide had explained all that…*

In Spanish, after verbs like decir, contar, explicar, pensar, saber, etc., we normally use que to introduce what was said/thought:

Me dijo que…
Nos explicó que…
Pensaba que…

Dropping que here (me contó la guía había explicado…) is not correct in standard Spanish.

What tense is había explicado and why is it used instead of explicó?

Había explicado is the past perfect (pretérito pluscuamperfecto) of explicar:

había (imperfect of haber) + explicado (past participle)

It’s used to talk about an action that was completed before another past action:

Past action 1: la guía había explicado todo eso
Later past action 2: mi madre me contó it to me

So the timeline is:

On Friday, the guide explained everything.
Later, my mother told me that the guide had explained everything.

You could say:

…que la guía explicó todo eso…
- This simply narrates the fact in the past (preterite), without clearly marking that it was earlier than me contó. It’s not wrong, but había explicado makes the sequence of events clearer.

Why is it la guía (feminine)? I thought guía ends in -a and might always be feminine.

Guía is a common-gender noun: the form is the same for masculine and feminine; the article tells you the gender:

el guía = the (male) guide
la guía = the (female) guide

So:

la guía había explicado… = the (female) guide had explained…

Note: guía can also mean guidebook, which is usually feminine:

una guía turística = a guidebook

In your sentence, la guía clearly refers to a woman who is a guide, so the feminine article la is used.

What does todo eso literally mean, and how is it different from eso todo or todo esto?

todo eso = all that (stuff) / all of that
- Refers to information or things that are not right here, a bit more distant or already mentioned.
eso todo is not normal word order in Spanish (it sounds wrong in this context).
todo esto = all this (stuff) / all of this
- Used for things that are closer in space, time, or in the current conversation.

So:

La guía había explicado todo eso.
= The guide had explained all that (the things we’re referring back to).
If the speaker is pointing to information that feels very immediate or just mentioned, they might say:
…todo esto.

Why is it en la videollamada and not por la videollamada or something else?

En is the usual preposition for in / on (as a setting or medium):

en la videollamada = in the video call / on the video call

Here it indicates the context or place where the explanation happened.

Other options would change the meaning:

por videollamada = by video call / via video call (emphasizes the means, not the specific call)
durante la videollamada = during the video call (focus on the time period)

So:

explicó eso en la videollamada del viernes = she explained that in the Friday video call (that specific call)

What does del viernes mean here? Why not just el viernes?

del = de + el

la videollamada del viernes literally = the video call of Friday
→ naturally: Friday’s video call / the video call on Friday

Using de like this is a common way to specify which one of something:

La clase del lunes = Monday’s class / the class on Monday
La reunión del martes = Tuesday’s meeting

If you said:

…en la videollamada el viernes, it sounds incomplete or awkward; you’d expect:
- …en la videollamada, el viernes (two separate time markers)
  or simply:
- …en la videollamada del viernes. ✅ (more natural and precise)

Why does guía and había have an accent on the í?

In guía and había, the accent mark breaks what would otherwise be a diphthong and makes two separate syllables:

guía = gu-í-a (3 syllables)
había = ha-bí-a (3 syllables)

Without the accent, they would be pronounced with a single syllable for ia, changing the stress and breaking Spanish accentuation rules.

So the accent mark:

Shows where the stress falls.
Indicates that í forms its own syllable, not a glide with a.

This is a general pattern in many words ending in -ía (día, María, todavía, etc.).

Can I change the word order and say Después me contó mi madre…?

Yes, that’s also correct:

Después mi madre me contó… ✅
Después me contó mi madre… ✅

Differences:

Después mi madre me contó…
→ neutral, subject (mi madre) appears early.
Después me contó mi madre…
→ slightly more emphatic on me contó; the subject at the end can sound a bit more narrative or stylistic, like “Afterwards, she told me, my mother…”.

Both are fine. Spanish allows relatively flexible word order as long as the clitic pronoun (me) stays close to the verb: me contó.

Is videollamada a common word in Spain, and how is it formed?

Yes, videollamada is widely understood and used in Spain.

Formation:

video
- llamada (call) → literally: video call

Spelling:

In modern Spanish it’s usually written as one word: videollamada.
Plural: videollamadas

It works grammatically like any other feminine noun:

la videollamada
una videollamada
las videollamadas