Antes de and Después de + Infinitive

Use antes de + infinitive to say that one action happens before another, and después de + infinitive to say that one action happens after another.

• Antes de salir, cierro las ventanas. — Before leaving, I close the windows.
• Después de cenar, veo la televisión. — After having dinner, I watch TV.

The basic structures are:

antes de + infinitive
después de + infinitive

Antes de + infinitive

Antes de means “before.”

• Me ducho antes de desayunar. — I shower before having breakfast.
• Antes de dormir, leo un poco. — Before going to sleep, I read a little.
• Comprueba la dirección antes de salir. — Check the address before leaving.

The antes de + infinitive phrase can come before or after the main clause:

• Antes de trabajar, tomo un café.
• Tomo un café antes de trabajar.

Both mean “I have a coffee before working.”

Después de + infinitive

Después de means “after.”

• Después de comer, damos un paseo. — After eating, we go for a walk.
• Llamé a mi madre después de llegar a casa. — I called my mother after getting home.
• Después de terminar el trabajo, salimos a cenar. — After finishing work, we went out for dinner.

Again, the phrase can appear before or after the main clause:

• Después de estudiar, descanso.
• Descanso después de estudiar.

The infinitive does not show tense

The infinitive itself does not change for past, present, or future time. The main verb shows when the situation happens.

Compare:

• Después de cenar, veo una película. — After dinner, I watch a movie.
• Después de cenar, vi una película. — After dinner, I watched a movie.
• Después de cenar, voy a ver una película. — After dinner, I am going to watch a movie.

The form cenar stays the same.

Usually the same subject

This structure is most straightforward when the same person does both actions.

• Antes de salir, me pongo los zapatos. — Before leaving, I put on my shoes.
• Después de terminar el trabajo, me fui a casa. — After finishing work, I went home.

In both examples, the same person performs both actions.

If the subjects are different, Spanish normally uses a clause instead of a simple infinitive.

• Antes de que llegue Ana, voy a limpiar la casa. — Before Ana arrives, I am going to clean the house.

This antes de que structure uses a conjugated verb and is a more advanced grammar point.

Antes de vs. después de vs. al + infinitive

These structures all help connect actions in time:

Structure	Meaning
antes de + infinitive	before doing something
después de + infinitive	after doing something
al + infinitive	when / upon doing something
Compare:

• Antes de salir, llamé a Ana. — Before leaving, I called Ana.
• Después de salir, llamé a Ana. — After leaving, I called Ana.
• Al salir, llamé a Ana. — When I left, I called Ana.

See also Al + Infinitive.

Common mistake

Do not remove de before the infinitive.

• ❌ antes salir
• ✅ antes de salir
• ❌ después comer
• ✅ después de comer

Quick rule

Use:

antes de + infinitive = before doing something
después de + infinitive = after doing something

• antes de dormir — before sleeping
• después de trabajar — after working
• antes de salir — before leaving
• después de llegar — after arriving