Discussion of 以后/以後 [yǐ hòu] after, afterwards, later

Discussion of 以后/以後

To include posts you need to register at trainchinese.com

1. Referring to something that happened in the past, or something that is going to happen in the future:
2. 以后 is usually used after a point of time or a period of time
Examples:
十个小时以后他们终于到达了目的地。 [phr] Ten hours later they finally arrived at their destination.
来中国以后，我看过两次京剧。 [phr] After coming to China, I have watched Peking Opera twice.
以后我要跟你一起练习普通话。 [phr] From now on I will practice Putonghua together with you.
我走以后小王会来接班。 [phr] After my leave Xiao Wang will take my duty.

lisaC

以后 vs 然后

1. 以后 is a noun indicating time. You can add a period of time or a point of time before 以后, e.g.
三个星期以后
5点以后

You can use 以后 as the subject or the object of a sentence, e.g.
我不关心以后。

2. 然后 cannot be used in these ways. 然后 is a conjunction that connects two phrases or clauses, e.g.
我打算先去超市，然后和你一起回家。

lisaC

In this post, we discuss the difference between 之后 and 以后.

之后 can refer to time (most cases), as well as location (this usage is quite rare). Examples:
E.g.游行时我们班的队伍走在三班的队伍之后。[phr] In the parade, our class marched after Class Three. (Location)
E.g.她毕业之后当了律师。 [phr] She worked as a lawyer after her graduation. (Time)

之后 can also be used at the beginning of the sentence, meaning after the action or incident which is mentioned before:
E.g. 一开始，我先简单地讨论了行动方案的大纲(=Action 1)。之后，我又对具体的措施进行了详细的介绍(=Action 2)。(phr) At the beginning, I briefly discussed the outline of the action plan. After that, I gave a detailed explanation of the specific solutions.

以后 cannot refer to location. Only time. When referring to time, it means either:
From now on: 我保证，以后不迟到了。 [phr] I promise that I will not be late in the future.
Or, after a certain time: 下过雨以后天气凉快了很多。 [phr] It's very cool after the rain.

lisaC

You you can select to receive personal notifications on the app or via email for important contributions to words that you are learning in the account settings .