之后 zhīhòu after
after; behind; (at the beginning of a sentence) afterwards; since then
How to remember 之后: 之 of + 后 back = after.
Characters
How it is used
- 之后 (zhīhòu) attaches after a time word or clause to mean 'after that': 下课之后 (xiàkè zhīhòu) - after class.
- Placed alone at a sentence's start, it means 'afterwards, later': 之后他就走了 (zhīhòu tā jiù zǒu le) - afterwards he left.
- It's near-interchangeable with 以后 (yǐhòu); 以后 leans slightly more toward open-ended future ('from now on'), while 之后 more precisely marks 'after [this specific point]' - in practice both are used constantly and often swappable.
- Common pattern: 先…然后…之后… sequences events in a narrative.
Example sentences
- 我之后再考虑。 Wǒ zhīhòu zài kǎolǜ.I'll think about it later.
- 四月之后是五月。 Sìyuè zhīhòu shì wǔyuè.May comes after April.
- 我走之后他到达了。 Wǒ zǒu zhīhòu tā dàodá le.He arrived after I had left.