Después de cenar, recoge la mesa, por favor.

please

Breakdown of Después de cenar, recoge la mesa, por favor.

• después de: after
• cenar: to have dinner
• recoger la mesa: to clear the table

Questions & Answers about Después de cenar, recoge la mesa, por favor.

What does después de cenar mean literally?

Literally, it means after dining or after eating dinner.

In natural English, it is often translated simply as after dinner, but the Spanish structure uses the verb cenar = to have dinner / to eat dinner.

So:

• después de cenar = after eating dinner
• very natural English meaning = after dinner

Why is cenar in the infinitive after de?

Because in Spanish, after a preposition like de, you normally use the infinitive form of the verb.

So Spanish says:

• después de cenar = after eating dinner
• antes de salir = before leaving
• sin hablar = without speaking

This is different from English, which often uses -ing after words like after, before, or without.

Is recoge a command or just a present-tense verb?

Here, recoge is a command: the tú imperative of recoger.

So:

• recoge = clear / pick up / tidy up (you, informal)

In another context, recoge could also be the present tense:

• Él recoge la mesa = He clears the table

But in your sentence, the comma and por favor make it clear that it is a request or instruction.