Breakdown of Guardo mis vaqueros limpios en el armario después de que la colada se seque.
Questions & Answers about Guardo mis vaqueros limpios en el armario después de que la colada se seque.
Guardar can cover all of these ideas in English, depending on context:
- to put away: Guardo mis vaqueros en el armario = I put my jeans away in the wardrobe
- to store / keep: Guardo dinero en el banco = I keep/store money in the bank
In this sentence, guardo is the present tense used for a habitual action:
> Guardo mis vaqueros… = I (usually) put my jeans away / I keep my jeans…
So it does not mean I will put (future), but I typically put or I put (whenever this situation happens).
Yes. In Spain, vaqueros is the standard everyday word for jeans.
- Spain: unos vaqueros, mis vaqueros = jeans
- Many Latin American countries: jeans, pantalones de mezclilla, pantalones vaqueros, etc.
So mis vaqueros here simply means my jeans.
Spanish treats many clothes differently from English:
- unos vaqueros (literally: some jeans / some cowboy trousers)
- unos pantalones (trousers)
- unas gafas (glasses)
Even when you mean one physical item, Spanish usually uses the plural form. So:
- I like these jeans → Me gustan estos vaqueros.
- These jeans are clean → Estos vaqueros están limpios.
It’s normal and correct to use plural for one pair of jeans.
In Spanish, the normal position of most adjectives is after the noun:
- los vaqueros limpios = the clean jeans
- el coche rojo = the red car
- una casa grande = a big house
Putting the adjective before the noun (e.g. limpios vaqueros) is unusual here and would sound poetic, emphatic, or just odd in everyday speech.
Also, limpios has to agree with vaqueros:
- vaqueros → masculine plural → limpios
- camiseta (feminine singular) → camiseta limpia
- camisas (feminine plural) → camisas limpias
Yes. In Spain, la colada usually means:
- the washing / the laundry load (the clothes you wash in the machine)
So:
- Poner la colada = to put a load of washing on
- Tender la colada = to hang the laundry out
You might also hear la ropa (the clothes) in similar sentences, but la colada focuses on the idea of the washing load itself.
In Spanish you almost always need an article (like el, la) in this kind of phrase:
- en el armario = in the wardrobe / in the closet
- en la mesa = on the table
- en la nevera = in the fridge
Leaving out the article (en armario) sounds incorrect or very strange in standard Spanish.
Also, armario is masculine, so it takes el, not la:
- el armario (wardrobe)
- la mesa (table)
después de + noun / infinitive
- después de la cena = after dinner
- después de comer = after eating / after I eat
después de que + conjugated verb
- después de que la colada se seque = after the laundry dries
- después de que llegues = after you arrive
In your sentence, there’s a full clause with a subject (la colada) and a verb (se seque), so Spanish normally uses después de que.
The verb se seque is present subjunctive of secarse.
With time expressions like:
- cuando (when)
- después de que (after)
- hasta que (until)
Spanish often uses the subjunctive when the action is in the future or not yet completed at the time we’re talking about it.
Here, the speaker is talking about what they do once the laundry has dried, which is a future / not-yet-done step each time:
- Guardo mis vaqueros… después de que la colada se seque.
→ I put away my jeans after the laundry dries (has dried).
So se seque (subjunctive) fits because the drying is seen as pending relative to the act of putting away.
If you talk about past or always-finished events, you typically use the indicative:
- Los guardé después de que la colada se secó.
= I put them away after the laundry dried.
It’s not a mistake. You’re seeing:
- se → reflexive / pronominal pronoun
- seque → verb form (present subjunctive of secar)
The full verb is secarse (to dry, to get dry), which conjugates here as:
- la colada se seque
So you get se (pronoun) + seque (subjunctive). It just looks like “se se-” twice, but grammatically it’s:
- pronoun: se
- verb: seque
Spanish often uses a pronominal / reflexive form to express that something becomes a certain state:
- secar = to dry (something)
- Seco la ropa. = I dry the clothes.
- secarse = to get dry / to dry itself / to dry (no agent mentioned)
- La ropa se seca. = The clothes dry (get dry).
In your sentence:
- la colada se seque = the laundry gets dry / dries
We’re not focusing on who dries it (the sun, the dryer, etc.), just on the result: it becomes dry. That’s why secarse is used.
Yes. That word order is perfectly natural:
- Después de que la colada se seque, guardo mis vaqueros limpios en el armario.
Spanish allows both orders:
- Guardo mis vaqueros… después de que la colada se seque.
- Después de que la colada se seque, guardo mis vaqueros…
The meaning is the same; it’s just a matter of emphasis and style.
Guardo is present indicative, and in this context it expresses a habitual action:
- Guardo mis vaqueros… después de que la colada se seque.
= I (always / usually) put my jeans away after the laundry dries.
Spanish present is used this way a lot:
- Todos los días me levanto a las siete. = I get up at seven every day.
- Los domingos comemos con mis padres. = We eat with my parents on Sundays.
So it’s not a future tense (I will put away), but a description of a routine.
Yes, but vaqueros and armario are the most neutral choices in Spain.
Other possibilities you might hear:
- jeans (pronounced roughly “yins”) – also understood, a bit more informal/anglicised.
- pantalones vaqueros – longer, more descriptive.
- ropero – another word for wardrobe, more common in some regions or older usage.
But for standard Peninsular Spanish, your original choices:
- mis vaqueros
- el armario
are excellent and very natural.