La librería nueva cierra tarde, así que podemos ir después de cenar.

This is a very common trap for English speakers. In Spanish, librería usually means bookstore/bookshop, a place where you buy books.

The word for library is biblioteca.

• librería = bookstore
• biblioteca = library

So in this sentence, La librería nueva means The new bookstore, not The new library.

Both are possible, but they can sound slightly different.

In Spanish, adjectives often come after the noun:

• la librería nueva = the new bookstore

This is the most neutral, straightforward order.

If you say:

• la nueva librería

it can sound a bit more expressive or literary, sometimes emphasizing new more strongly, or suggesting the newly opened bookstore depending on context.

For a learner, the safest pattern is:

• noun + adjective → librería nueva

Cierra is the third-person singular present tense of cerrar:

• yo cierro
• tú cierras
• él/ella cierra

Here, the subject is la librería nueva, which is singular, so Spanish uses:

• La librería nueva cierra tarde = The new bookstore closes late

Why not cerrar? Because cerrar is the infinitive, meaning to close, and you need a conjugated verb in a normal statement.

Why not está cerrando? Because that means is closing, which describes an action happening right now. In this sentence, the idea is about the store’s regular closing time, so the simple present cierra is the natural choice.

This verb is a stem-changing verb in the present tense.

cerrar changes from e to ie in many present forms:

• yo cierro
• tú cierras
• él/ella cierra
• nosotros cerramos
• vosotros cerráis
• ellos/ellas cierran

So cerrar becomes cierra because the subject is la librería, which takes the él/ella/usted form.

Spanish often omits subject pronouns because the verb ending already tells you who the subject is, or the subject is already stated.

In this sentence:

• La librería nueva cierra tarde → the subject is clearly la librería nueva
• podemos ir → podemos already tells you the subject is we

So Spanish does not need:

• Ella cierra tarde
• Nosotros podemos ir

You could add nosotros for emphasis, but normally it is left out.

Here, tarde means late, not afternoon.

Spanish tarde can be:

• a noun: the afternoon
• an adverb: late

In this sentence, it is an adverb:

• cierra tarde = it closes late

Compare:

• por la tarde = in the afternoon
• llega tarde = he/she arrives late

So the meaning depends on context.

Así que means so, therefore, or so then.

It connects two ideas:

• La librería nueva cierra tarde = The new bookstore closes late
• así que podemos ir después de cenar = so we can go after dinner

It is very common in everyday Spanish.

You can think of it as introducing a result:

• fact → consequence

Examples:

• Tengo hambre, así que voy a comer. = I’m hungry, so I’m going to eat.
• Es tarde, así que nos vamos. = It’s late, so we’re leaving.

Podemos ir means we can go. It expresses possibility or ability.

• podemos = we can
• ir = to go

So:

• podemos ir después de cenar = we can go after dinner

If you said vamos después de cenar, that would usually mean:

• we are going after dinner or
• let’s go after dinner

That is stronger and more definite. Podemos ir sounds more like it’s possible / that works for us.

After a conjugated modal verb like poder, Spanish normally uses an infinitive.

So:

• podemos ir = we can go
• puedo comer = I can eat
• pueden venir = they can come

This is similar to English:

• can go
• can eat
• can come

You do not conjugate both verbs:

• correct: podemos ir
• not correct: podemos vamos

Both are possible, but they are slightly different in structure.

• después de cenar = after having dinner / after dinner
• después de la cena = after the dinner / after dinner

Spanish often uses de + infinitive after words like antes and después when talking about an action:

• antes de salir = before leaving
• después de comer = after eating
• después de cenar = after having dinner

This sounds very natural.

Después de la cena uses a noun phrase instead:

• la cena = dinner

That is also correct, but después de cenar is especially common when talking about the activity itself.

After después de, Spanish uses either:

1. a noun
   • después de la cena

or

2. an infinitive
   • después de cenar

It does not use a conjugated verb there, so de cenamos is incorrect.

It also does not use an article before an infinitive, so de la cenar is incorrect.

The pattern is:

• después de + infinitive
• después de + noun

The comma separates the first idea from the result that follows.

• La librería nueva cierra tarde, así que podemos ir después de cenar.

This is very natural punctuation in Spanish and also matches English usage in many similar sentences:

• The new bookstore closes late, so we can go after dinner.

The comma helps show that the second part is a consequence of the first.

Yes, but the meaning shifts slightly.

• así que = so / therefore → clearly shows a consequence
• entonces = then / so → can also show consequence, but sometimes feels a little less direct
• luego = later / then → often more about sequence in time

In this sentence, así que is the best choice because the second idea follows logically from the first:

• the store closes late → therefore we can go after dinner

So así que is the most natural connector here.