后 (hòu) in Mandarin: after, behind, later

Translation

after, behind, later

Word origin

后 (hòu) here means 'after, behind'. In this sense it is the simplified form of 後, which combined 彳 (step), 幺 (small) and 夂 (to follow behind) to convey lagging or coming after. The plain 后 also independently means 'empress'.

Origin: compound
Root: 后 (simplified from 後: 彳 step + 幺 + 夂 follow behind)

Stroke order

后

Examples

。

After finishing the meal.

。

Let's talk in three days.

。

He is behind me.

课kè。

After class we will go and eat.

。

He will be back after three days.

后 (hòu) means after, behind, later. It is used as a noun in everyday Mandarin speech.

Related words

之前

before, prior to

然后

then, after that, afterwards

最后

last, finally, in the end

先

first, in advance, earlier

天

day, sky, heaven

Appears in 7 words

Multi-character compounds in the corpus that contain 后.

然后rán hòuthen, after that, afterwards 最后zuì hòulast, finally, in the end 之后zhī hòuafter, afterwards, thereafter 以后yǐ hòuafter, from now on, in the future 后面hòu miànbehind, at the back 后来hòu láiafterwards, later 后悔hòu huǐto regret, to feel remorse

Used in

Grammar articles

(5)

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后(hòu) - after, behind, later in Mandarin