Nada más terminar de cocinar, limpio la mesa con la esponja y guardo todo.

Here, nada más means as soon as or right after.

So Nada más terminar de cocinar... means As soon as I finish cooking...

You're right that nada más can literally mean nothing more / nothing else in other contexts, but in this sentence it is a fixed time expression.

For example:

• No quiero nada más. = I don’t want anything else.
• Nada más llegar, me senté. = As soon as I arrived, I sat down.

So the meaning depends on context.

Because Spanish often uses nada más + infinitive to mean as soon as + subject + verb.

So:

• Nada más terminar de cocinar, ...
• literally: As soon as finishing cooking, ...
• natural English: As soon as I finish cooking, ...

This structure is especially common when the subject is understood from the main clause. In your sentence, the person who finishes cooking is also the person who cleans the table and puts everything away.

Other similar examples:

• Nada más llegar, llamé a mi madre. = As soon as I arrived, I called my mother.
• Nada más entrar, se quitó los zapatos. = As soon as he/she came in, he/she took off his/her shoes.

Because terminar de + infinitive is the normal structure for to finish doing something.

So:

• terminar de cocinar = to finish cooking
• terminar de estudiar = to finish studying
• terminar de limpiar = to finish cleaning

In standard Spanish, terminar cocinar without de is not correct in this meaning.

A useful comparison:

• Termino de cocinar. = I finish cooking / I’ve just finished cooking depending on context
• Termino la cena. = I finish the dinner / I finish preparing the dinner

So when the second verb is an action, Spanish normally uses de.

Because Spanish usually leaves out subject pronouns when they are already clear from the verb ending.

• limpio = I clean
• guardo = I put away / I store

The -o ending already tells you the subject is yo.

So:

• Nada más terminar de cocinar, limpio la mesa...
• is completely natural, and more natural than always saying yo limpio...

You would include yo only for emphasis, contrast, or clarity:

• Yo limpio la mesa y tú guardas todo. = I clean the table and you put everything away.

The present tense here is most naturally understood as a habitual or routine action.

So the sentence suggests something like:

• As soon as I finish cooking, I clean the table with the sponge and put everything away.

That sounds like a regular pattern or habit.

Spanish uses the present tense a lot for:

• routines
• general truths
• instructions
• sometimes near-future actions

If you wanted a past version, you could say:

• Nada más terminar de cocinar, limpié la mesa con la esponja y guardé todo.
• As soon as I finished cooking, I cleaned the table with the sponge and put everything away.

Good question, because limpio can be:

• a verb: I clean
• an adjective: clean (masculine singular)

In this sentence, it is clearly a verb because it appears in a sequence of actions:

• limpio la mesa
• y guardo todo

Both limpio and guardo are finite verbs in the first person singular.

Compare:

• Limpio la mesa. = I clean the table. → verb
• El plato está limpio. = The plate is clean. → adjective

So in your sentence, limpio means I clean.

Because mesa is a feminine noun, so it takes la in the singular:

• la mesa = the table
• las mesas = the tables

A common mistake for English speakers is assuming noun gender follows real-world logic, but in Spanish it is grammatical gender, so you just learn it with the noun.

Also, mesa here most likely means a table in the kitchen or dining area, not a desk. For desk, Spanish often uses escritorio.

Because la esponja suggests a specific, known sponge: the sponge you normally use, or the one already understood from the situation.

So:

• con la esponja = with the sponge
• con una esponja = with a sponge

Spanish often uses the definite article where English might also use the, but sometimes English speakers expect a/an more often than Spanish does.

In this sentence, la esponja sounds natural because it means something like with the sponge I use for that.

In Spain, esponja is fine here. Depending on the exact object, people might also say estropajo for a scrubbing pad/scourer.

In this sentence, guardar does not mean to guard in the English sense of to protect.

Here it means:

• to put away
• to store
• to tidy away
• sometimes to keep

So:

• guardo todo = I put everything away

This is a very common false friend for English speakers.

Examples:

• Guardo los platos en el armario. = I put the plates away in the cupboard.
• Guardo el móvil en el bolso. = I put my phone in my bag.
• Guarda silencio. = Keep quiet.

Because todo here is a neuter pronoun meaning everything.

So:

• guardo todo = I put everything away

It does not refer to a masculine plural noun, so todos would not fit here.

Compare:

• Guardo todo. = I put everything away.
• Guardo todos los platos. = I put away all the plates.

So:

• todo = everything
• todos = all / everyone / all of them depending on context

Yes, but the nuance changes a little.

• Nada más terminar de cocinar... = As soon as I finish cooking...

  • very immediate
  • emphasizes the moment cooking is finished

• Después de cocinar... = After cooking...

  • more general
  • does not stress the immediacy as strongly

• Nada más cocinar...

  • possible in some contexts
  • but it can sound less precise here
  • terminar de cocinar makes it clearer that the action happens right after the cooking is finished

So the original sentence is a very natural way to express immediately after finishing cooking.

Yes, it is the normal punctuation here.

Nada más terminar de cocinar is an introductory time phrase. In Spanish, when that kind of phrase comes first, it is normally followed by a comma:

• Nada más terminar de cocinar, limpio la mesa...

This works much like English:

• As soon as I finish cooking, I clean the table...

The comma helps separate the introductory part from the main clause.