No me gusta dejar la cubertería sobre la mesa; prefiero guardarla en cuanto termino de secarla.

Because gustar works differently from to like in English.

In Spanish, gustar literally works more like to be pleasing to. So:

• Me gusta dejar la cubertería... = Leaving the cutlery on the table is not pleasing to me
• More natural English: I don’t like leaving the cutlery on the table

Here:

• me = to me
• gusta = is pleasing

You use gusta because what follows is an action in the infinitive, dejar, and an infinitive is treated as a singular idea.

Because the thing being liked is the infinitive phrase dejar la cubertería sobre la mesa, not la cubertería by itself.

An infinitive used as a noun-like idea is singular, so Spanish uses gusta:

• Me gusta leer.
• Me gusta cocinar.
• Me gusta dejar la cubertería sobre la mesa.

If the subject were a plural noun, then you would use gustan:

• Me gustan los libros.

So here, the subject is dejar la cubertería sobre la mesa, which takes gusta.

Here dejar means to leave in the sense of to leave something somewhere.

So:

• dejar la cubertería sobre la mesa = to leave the cutlery on the table

It does not mean to stop here, even though dejar de + infinitive can mean to stop doing something in other contexts.

Examples:

• Dejé las llaves en la mesa. = I left the keys on the table.
• Dejé de fumar. = I stopped smoking.

In your sentence, it’s clearly the first meaning.

Both are possible, but they are slightly different.

• la cubertería = cutlery / silverware as a collective set
• los cubiertos = the individual pieces of cutlery: knives, forks, spoons

In this sentence, la cubertería sounds natural because the speaker is talking about the cutlery as a group.

So:

• No me gusta dejar la cubertería sobre la mesa = I don’t like leaving the cutlery on the table

If you said los cubiertos, it would also be understandable, but it focuses a bit more on the individual items.

Because sobre means on / on top of, which fits the idea of objects resting on the surface of a table.

• sobre la mesa = on the table

Spanish can sometimes use en la mesa in some contexts, but sobre la mesa is more precise here because the cutlery is physically on top of the table.

Compare:

• El libro está sobre la mesa. = The book is on the table.
• Estamos en la mesa. can sometimes mean we are at the table

So sobre is the best choice for physical placement on the surface.

La refers back to la cubertería.

Since cubertería is:

• feminine
• singular (grammatically, as a collective noun)

the direct object pronoun is la.

So:

• guardar la cubertería = to put away the cutlery
• guardarla = to put it away

Spanish often replaces a repeated noun with a direct object pronoun to avoid repetition.

Because in Spanish, object pronouns can be attached to an infinitive.

So these are both correct patterns:

• prefiero guardarla
• la prefiero guardar

And:

• termino de secarla
• la termino de secar

Attaching the pronoun to the infinitive is very common and often sounds smooth and natural.

Here:

• guardarla = to put it away
• secarla = to dry it

The attached pronoun must match the noun it replaces, which is la cubertería.

En cuanto means as soon as.

So:

• en cuanto termino de secarla = as soon as I finish drying it

It introduces an action that happens immediately after another one.

Examples:

• Te llamo en cuanto llegue. = I’ll call you as soon as I arrive.
• En cuanto pueda, voy. = I’ll go as soon as I can.

In your sentence, the speaker prefers to put the cutlery away immediately after drying it.

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

So:

• terminar de secar = to finish drying
• termino de secarla = I finish drying it

The de is required in this pattern.

Examples:

• Terminé de comer. = I finished eating.
• ¿Has terminado de estudiar? = Have you finished studying?

Without de, the sentence would sound wrong in standard Spanish.

Because the speaker is describing a habitual action or general preference.

The sentence means something like:

• I don’t like leaving the cutlery on the table; I prefer to put it away as soon as I finish drying it.

This is not about one specific moment only; it describes what the speaker generally does.

Spanish often uses the present tense for:

• habits
• routines
• general truths
• preferences

So termino here means when I finish / whenever I finish in a general sense.

Not here.

Although guardar can sometimes correspond to save, in this context it means to put away, to store, or to keep.

So:

• prefiero guardarla = I prefer to put it away

For household objects, guardar often means putting something back where it belongs.

Examples:

• Guarda la ropa en el armario. = Put the clothes away in the wardrobe.
• Voy a guardar los platos. = I’m going to put the dishes away.

So save would sound unnatural here in English.

The semicolon links two closely related ideas:

• No me gusta dejar la cubertería sobre la mesa
• prefiero guardarla en cuanto termino de secarla

It works like a stronger pause than a comma, but it keeps both parts connected in one sentence.

In English, you could also use a semicolon in the same way:

• I don’t like leaving the cutlery on the table; I prefer to put it away as soon as I finish drying it.

So this is mainly a punctuation choice, not a grammar issue specific to Spanish.

Yes, it sounds natural in Spain.

A few points:

• cubertería is perfectly normal in Spain
• guardar for put away is also very natural
• the whole sentence sounds like everyday standard Spanish

A speaker might also say similar versions such as:

• No me gusta dejar los cubiertos sobre la mesa; prefiero guardarlos en cuanto termino de secarlos.
• Prefiero recogerla en cuanto termino de secarla.

But your original sentence is clear, correct, and natural for Spain.