后来hòu láiafterwards; later
后来 (hòu lái) means "afterwards" or "later." It points to something that happened after an earlier past event, so it is used when telling a story about the past, not for future plans. 他先在学校工作,后来去了医院 says he first worked at a school and later went to a hospital.
What does 后来 mean?
- 1.
afterwards; laternoun
What do the characters in 后来 mean?
- 后afterwards
- 来not compositional here
How do you use 后来?
后来 is for past sequences; for something later in the future, 以后 is used instead.
What are some examples of 后来 in a sentence?
How is 后来 used in a conversation?
- Speaker A:
你和小王是怎么认识的?
Nǐ hé Xiǎo Wáng shì zěnme rènshi de?
How did you and Xiao Wang meet?
- Speaker B:
我们以前在一个学校学习。
Wǒmen yǐqián zài yí ge xuéxiào xuéxí.
We used to study at the same school.
- Speaker A:
后来呢?
Hòulái ne?
And then?
- Speaker B:
后来我们在一家公司工作。
Hòulái wǒmen zài yì jiā gōngsī gōngzuò.
Later we worked at the same company.
What should you learn next?
- Free HSK 3 level testSee which HSK 3.0 level your vocabulary matches.
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- HSK 3.0 guideHow the nine levels and three bands work.
Related words
- 以后yǐ hòuafterHSK 3
- 最后zuì hòufinal; lastHSK 3
- 来自lái zìto come from (a place)HSK 3
- 然后rán hòuthen; after that; afterwardsHSK 3
- 看来kàn láiapparentlyHSK 3
- 之后zhī hòuafterHSK 4
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English glosses on this page are adapted from CC-CEDICT, published by MDBG (snapshot 2026-10-23), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Glosses were edited for learners.