Breakdown of Después de cenar, voy a limpiar la sartén con agua caliente.
yo
I
el agua
the water
con
with
después de
after
Questions & Answers about Después de cenar, voy a limpiar la sartén con agua caliente.
Why is it después de cenar and not después cenar?
Because después is normally followed by de in Spanish.
- después de cenar = after eating dinner
- después de la cena = after dinner
Both are correct, but de is needed after después in this structure.
Why is cenar in the infinitive here?
After a preposition like de, Spanish often uses the infinitive when English would use an -ing form.
So:
- después de cenar literally = after to dine
- natural English = after having dinner / after dinner
This is very common in Spanish:
What does voy a limpiar mean exactly?