Question 1

Why does the Spanish sentence use the infinitive cenar instead of cenando for "having dinner"?

Accepted Answer

In Spanish, whenever a verb comes immediately after a preposition like de (of/from) or antes de (before), it must be in the infinitive form. English uses the "-ing" form for this ("after having"), but Spanish always sticks to the infinitive, like después de cenar.

Question 2

Why isn't there a translation for the word "having" in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

In Spanish, meals are often expressed as single verbs rather than a combination of a verb plus a noun. The single verb cenar means "to have dinner." You will also see this with desayunar (to have breakfast) and almorzar (to have lunch).

Question 3

I always confuse por and para. Why is it por el parque here?

Accepted Answer

The word por is used to talk about movement through, along, or around a physical space. Because you are strolling through the park, you use por. If you used para, it would mean the park is your final destination, as in "we are walking toward the park."

Question 4

Does caminamos mean "we walk" or "we walked"?

Accepted Answer

It can actually be both! For regular "-ar" verbs, the "we" form (nosotros) is spelled exactly the same in the present tense and the simple past tense. The context of the conversation will tell you which one it is. In this case, the English translation shows it is a present-tense routine.

Después de cenar, caminamos por el parque.

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