Nada más salir de la universidad, pasé por el quiosco y luego fui a la ferretería.

It is a very common structure meaning as soon as or right after doing something.

So:

• Nada más salir de la universidad = As soon as I left the university
• Literally, nada más is something like nothing more than, but in this structure you should learn it as a fixed expression.

Other examples:

• Nada más llegar, me llamó. = As soon as he arrived, he called me.
• Nada más terminar, se fue. = As soon as she finished, she left.

In this sentence, it introduces the first action and shows that the next thing happened immediately afterward.

Because salir normally takes de when you say the place you are leaving.

• salir de casa
• salir del trabajo
• salir de la universidad

So the pattern is:

• salir de + place

This is different from English, where leave can take a direct object:

• leave the university

In Spanish, you usually need the preposition de with salir in this meaning.

Because after nada más, Spanish commonly uses the infinitive.

So the structure is:

• nada más + infinitive

That means you do not say:

• Nada más salí... in this sentence structure

Instead, you say:

• Nada más salir...

The subject is understood from the main verb later in the sentence:

• pasé
• fui

Since those are first person singular, we understand that the person who left the university is also I.

They are in the preterite because the sentence describes a sequence of completed actions in the past:

1. left the university
2. stopped by / went past the kiosk
3. went to the hardware store

The preterite is the normal tense for finished events and for narrating a series of actions.

• pasé
• fui

If you used the imperfect, it would suggest background, repetition, or an ongoing situation, which is not the idea here.

Pasar por can mean different things depending on context, but here it most naturally means something like:

• I stopped by the kiosk
• I went by the kiosk
• possibly I passed by the kiosk

A key point is that pasar por does not always mean simply physical movement past a place. In everyday Spanish, it can also suggest making a brief visit or going via a place.

So in this sentence, it probably means the speaker went to the kiosk briefly on the way somewhere else.

They are similar, but not exactly the same.

• Fui al quiosco = I went to the kiosk
• Pasé por el quiosco = I went by / stopped by the kiosk

Fui al quiosco focuses more directly on the kiosk as the destination.

Pasé por el quiosco often suggests one of these ideas:

• it was a brief stop
• it was on the way
• it was one step in a sequence of movements

So pasé por can feel a bit lighter or less goal-focused than fui a.

In Spanish, articles are used more often than in English, especially with places and establishments.

So Spanish naturally says:

• el quiosco
• la ferretería
• la universidad

Even when English might say to the hardware store or sometimes just to university in certain contexts, Spanish usually keeps the article.

A few notes:

• de la universidad = from the university
• por el quiosco = by the kiosk
• a la ferretería = to the hardware store

This is just normal Spanish usage, not anything unusual.

Because Spanish often omits subject pronouns when the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

Here:

• pasé = I went by / I stopped by
• fui = I went

Both forms clearly show first person singular, so yo is unnecessary.

You could say:

• Nada más salir de la universidad, yo pasé por el quiosco...

But that would usually add emphasis or contrast. In a neutral sentence, leaving out yo is more natural.

The comma separates the opening time expression from the main clause.

The first part:

• Nada más salir de la universidad

sets the time/background for what follows.

Then the main actions come after it:

• pasé por el quiosco
• luego fui a la ferretería

This is similar to English punctuation in sentences like:

• After leaving university, I stopped by the kiosk...

The comma helps readability and marks the introductory phrase.

Yes, in this sentence luego and después are both possible.

• ... y luego fui a la ferretería
• ... y después fui a la ferretería

Both mean then / afterwards.

Very generally:

• luego often feels like then
• después often feels like afterwards / later

But in many everyday contexts they are interchangeable.

They are close, but not identical.

• Nada más salir de la universidad = as soon as I left the university
• Al salir de la universidad = when leaving / on leaving the university

Nada más salir gives a stronger sense of immediately after.

Al salir is slightly more general and does not always emphasize immediacy as strongly.

So if the idea is that the speaker went to the kiosk right away, nada más salir is a very good choice.

Because fui a expresses movement to a place, while estuve en expresses being in a place.

• fui a la ferretería = I went to the hardware store
• estuve en la ferretería = I was at the hardware store

In this sentence, the speaker is describing where they went next, so fui a is the natural choice.

It is widely understood, but it is especially common in Spain for a small stand or kiosk, often one that sells newspapers, magazines, sweets, drinks, and similar items.

A learner of Spanish from Spain should definitely know quiosco.

Also, you may see two spellings:

• quiosco
• kiosco

Both exist, but quiosco is the more traditional spelling.

Yes. La uni is a very common informal shortening of la universidad.

So in casual speech, someone might say:

• Nada más salir de la uni...

But in a neutral or slightly more careful sentence, la universidad is more standard.

So the difference is mainly register:

• la universidad = neutral / standard
• la uni = informal

No. Even though the word historically relates to hierro and metalwork, ferretería in modern Spanish means a hardware store.

It is the normal word for a shop that sells things like:

• tools
• screws
• nails
• locks
• paint supplies
• household repair items

So it is a very practical everyday shop word, especially in Spain.

This is a very common learner question. Fui can be a past form of both ir and ser.

So fui can mean:

• I went from ir
• I was from ser

You tell which one it is from the context.

Here, it is clearly from ir because it is followed by a la ferretería, showing movement to a place:

• fui a la ferretería = I went to the hardware store

If it were from ser, the sentence would need a different context, such as:

• Fui profesor = I was a teacher

Yes, that is exactly how it works.

The sentence presents a timeline:

1. Nada más salir de la universidad
   the moment of leaving university

2. pasé por el quiosco
   the next completed action

3. y luego fui a la ferretería
   the action after that

This is a very common way Spanish tells short past-event sequences: an opening time phrase followed by preterite verbs.