Spanish Time Clauses: Linking Events with antes de and después de
Learn to connect two events in Spanish using antes de and después de, plus the que clause pattern, so you can say what happened before or after something else.
By TheaFirst conversations · Yapr Learn
In Spanish, you can tell a story with simple sequence words like primero and luego, but that keeps each event in its own sentence. This lesson teaches a tighter skill: joining two events into one sentence with a time clause. You will learn antes de and después de with infinitives, and antes de que and después de que with conjugated verbs. These patterns let you say things like Después de comer, salí ('After I ate, I left') and Antes de que llegaras, cociné ('Before you arrived, I cooked').
By the end, you can…
- link two events in one sentence using antes de and después de with an infinitive.
- use antes de que and después de que with a conjugated verb when the subjects are different.
- choose correctly between the infinitive pattern and the que clause pattern.
Listen once. Try it slowly. Then say it without looking.
Checking available voices…
Después de comer, salí.
After eating, I left. / After I ate, I left.
deh-SPWEHS deh koh-MEHR, sah-LEE
Same subject in both parts. Use después de + infinitive. The infinitive comer means 'eating' here, not a command.
Antes de salir, comí.
Before leaving, I ate. / Before I left, I ate.
AHN-tehs deh sah-LEER, koh-MEE
Same subject. Use antes de + infinitive. Very common in everyday narration.
Después de que llegó, comimos.
After he/she arrived, we ate.
deh-SPWEHS deh keh yeh-GOH, koh-MEE-mohs
Different subjects (he/she arrived, we ate). Use después de que + conjugated verb. In much of Latin America this takes the indicative: llegó.
Antes de que llegara, cociné.
Before he/she arrived, I cooked.
AHN-tehs deh keh yeh-GAH-rah, koh-see-NEH
Different subjects. Antes de que normally takes the subjunctive: llegara. This is the standard careful form.
Nos fuimos después de que terminó la película.
We left after the movie ended.
nohs FWEH-mohs deh-SPWEHS deh keh tehr-mee-NOH lah peh-LEE-koo-lah
A full sentence with a noun subject, la película. Después de que + indicative is common in Latin American Spanish.
Pronunciation guides are approximate. Slow playback keeps the original pitch.
Make it make sense
Useful pattern
The key decision is whether the subject changes. If the subject stays the same, use antes de or después de plus an infinitive: Antes de comer, llamé a mi mamá. Después de estudiar, vi televisión. If the subject changes, use antes de que or después de que plus a conjugated verb: Antes de que comieras, llamé a mi mamá. Después de que estudiaste, viste televisión. Notice that the infinitive has no separate subject, so it naturally refers to the same person as the main verb.
When to use it
Use these clauses to show the order of two events in one sentence, which sounds more connected than separate sentences with primero and luego. Antes de que almost always takes the subjunctive: Antes de que salgas, habla conmigo. Después de que is more flexible in Latin American Spanish and commonly takes the indicative when the event is real and completed: Después de que salió, hablé con ella. In careful or formal writing, después de que can also take the subjunctive, especially for future or hypothetical events: Después de que salga, hablaremos.
Listen to each line, then take one part and reply out loud.
¿Qué hiciste después de llegar a casa?
What did you do after getting home?keh ee-SEES-teh deh-SPWEHS deh yeh-GAHR ah KAH-sahDespués de llegar, cené y luego estudié.
After getting home, I ate dinner and then studied.deh-SPWEHS deh yeh-GAHR, seh-NEH ee LWEH-goh ehs-too-DYEHYo salí antes de que mi hermana llegara.
I left before my sister arrived.yoh sah-LEE AHN-tehs deh keh mee ehr-MAH-nah yeh-GAH-rahAh, entonces ella llegó después de que te fuiste.
Ah, so she arrived after you left.ah, ehn-TOHN-sehs EH-yah yeh-GOH deh-SPWEHS deh keh teh FWEES-tehA little context goes a long way
In everyday Latin American Spanish, después de que + indicative is very common and sounds natural: Después de que terminó, salimos. Antes de que is more consistently subjunctive. In Spain, some speakers also use the infinitive after antes de/después de with the same subject, just as in Latin America. Regional variation exists, so listen to how people around you speak and follow that pattern.
One thing to watch for
Using the infinitive when the subjects are different: Antes de llegar mi hermana, salí.
Try this instead: When the subjects differ, use antes de que + subjunctive: Antes de que llegara mi hermana, salí. The infinitive pattern only works when the same person does both actions.
Your turn
Try answering out loud before checking a possible answer.
1Combine with the same subject: 'After I ate, I left.'
Show a sample answer
Después de comer, salí.
Same subject (I ate, I left), so después de + infinitive is correct. Después de que comí, salí is possible but less common when the subject is the same.
2Combine with different subjects: 'Before you arrived, I cooked.'
Show a sample answer
Antes de que llegaras, cociné.
Different subjects (you arrived, I cooked), so use antes de que + subjunctive llegaras. Some speakers might say antes de que llegaste in casual speech, but the subjunctive is the careful standard.
3Choose the correct form: 'We left after the movie ended.'
Show a sample answer
Nos fuimos después de que terminó la película.
Different subjects (the movie ended, we left), so use después de que + conjugated verb. Terminó is indicative and common in Latin American Spanish; terminara is also possible in more formal styles.
Use antes de / después de + infinitive when one person does both actions; use antes de que / después de que + conjugated verb when the subjects differ.
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