Después del seminario, mi hermana y yo fuimos a la cafetería de la facultad para repasar los apuntes.

Because de + el contracts to del in Spanish.

• de el seminario → del seminario
• This is a standard contraction, just like a + el = al

So Después del seminario means After the seminar.

Después de means after when it is followed by a noun or noun phrase.

• Después del seminario = After the seminar

If a verb follows, Spanish often uses después de + infinitive:

• Después de comer = After eating

So here de is needed because seminario is a noun.

Both are understandable, but mi hermana y yo sounds more natural and polite in Spanish, just like my sister and I is usually preferred over I and my sister in English.

Spanish often puts yo later in the list rather than first.

Because Spanish usually drops subject pronouns when they are not needed.

The verb form fuimos already tells you the subject is we. Since the sentence already says mi hermana y yo, adding nosotros would be unnecessary.

• Mi hermana y yo fuimos... = natural
• Mi hermana y yo nosotros fuimos... = usually redundant

Fuimos is the preterite form of ir for nosotros.

• ir = to go
• fuimos = we went

The preterite is used because this is a completed action in the past: they went to the cafeteria after the seminar. It is a clear, finished event in a sequence.

Usually not in this sentence, unless you want a different meaning.

• fuimos = we went → a completed event
• íbamos = we were going / used to go → ongoing, habitual, or background action

Here the sentence tells a sequence of completed actions: after the seminar, they went to the cafeteria to review notes. That fits fuimos much better.

Because in the preterite, ir and ser share the same forms:

• fui
• fuiste
• fue
• fuimos
• fuisteis
• fueron

So fuimos can mean either we went or we were, depending on context.

In this sentence, a la cafetería makes it clear that it comes from ir, because going somewhere is involved.

Because the verb ir is normally followed by a when you say where someone goes.

• ir a un lugar = to go to a place

So:

• fuimos a la cafetería = we went to the cafeteria

The la is there because cafetería is a feminine singular noun.

De la facultad means of the faculty / of the university faculty / belonging to the faculty.

It is describing which cafeteria they went to: the cafeteria associated with the faculty or university building.

In Spanish, de + noun is very common where English might use a noun as an adjective:

• la cafetería de la facultad = the faculty cafeteria / the cafeteria at the faculty

In Spain, facultad often refers to a university faculty or department building, not just the abstract idea of faculty members.

Here facultad most likely refers to a university faculty, school, or department, often also the building where that part of the university is located.

So la cafetería de la facultad is probably the cafeteria in or attached to that university faculty.

For a native English speaker, this can feel slightly broader than the English word faculty, which often means the teaching staff. In Spanish, facultad frequently refers to the academic division itself.

Because para + infinitive is a very common way to express purpose:

• fuimos a la cafetería para repasar los apuntes
• we went to the cafeteria in order to review the notes

It answers the question why did they go there?

When the subject of both actions is the same, Spanish normally uses para + infinitive.

Here, the people who went are also the people who reviewed the notes:

• mi hermana y yo fuimos...
• mi hermana y yo repasamos...

So para repasar is the natural structure.

Para que + subjunctive is used when the second action has a different subject:

• Fui a verla para que me ayudara = I went to see her so that she could help me

Repasar means to review, to go over again, or to revise. It suggests looking over material that has already been studied or covered.

So:

• estudiar = to study
• repasar = to review / revise

With los apuntes, repasar is especially natural, because you usually review notes rather than simply study notes in this kind of context.

Apuntes means notes, especially class notes or lecture notes.

So repasar los apuntes means to review the notes they took in class or for the seminar.

This is a very common academic word in Spanish.

Spanish uses the definite article more often than English.

Here los apuntes means the notes, referring to specific notes that the speakers have in mind, probably the notes from the seminar or course.

English might sometimes say just review notes, but Spanish normally prefers repasar los apuntes.

It is natural and correct in writing because Después del seminario is an introductory time phrase.

• Después del seminario, mi hermana y yo...

The comma helps separate that opening phrase from the main clause. In shorter sentences, Spanish commas can sometimes be flexible, but here the comma is perfectly normal and stylistically helpful.

A few useful stress patterns:

• después → stress on the last syllable
• seminario → stress on na
• hermana → stress on man
• cafetería → stress on rí
• facultad → stress on the last syllable
• repasar → stress on the last syllable
• apuntes → stress on pun

The written accent in después and cafetería shows where the stress goes.

Yes. Spanish allows some flexibility in word order, although the original version is very natural.

For example:

• Mi hermana y yo fuimos a la cafetería de la facultad después del seminario para repasar los apuntes.

This is grammatically correct, but the original sentence sounds smoother because it sets the time first, then the action, then the purpose.

So the original order is a very natural storytelling order:

1. when
2. who + what they did
3. where
4. why