后
来

About

The word 后来 is formed by combining the character 后, meaning "after" or "behind", with the character 来, meaning "to come". Conceptually, it creates a visual and temporal sequence of one thing being positioned behind and then arriving after another, directly painting the idea of "a time that comes after" or "subsequently". This formation relies on placing a spatial concept of sequence (后) in motion with an action of arrival (来) to express a purely temporal consequence.

Example Sentences Hide

我们后来去了公园。

Wǒmen hòulái qùle gōngyuán.

We went to the park later.

他先答应了，后来却反悔了。

Tā xiān dāyìngle, hòulái què fǎnhuǐle.

He agreed at first, but later went back on his word.

我起初不太喜欢这份工作，后来渐渐习惯了。

Wǒ qǐchū bù tài xǐhuān zhè fèn gōngzuò, hòulái jiànjiàn xíguànle.

I didn't like this job at first, but I gradually got used to it later.

这个故事开始很悲伤，但后来有一个温暖的结局。

Zhège gùshi kāishǐ hěn bēishāng, dàn hòulái yǒu yí gè wēnnuǎn de jiéjú.

This story was very sad at the beginning, but it had a warm ending later.

经历了那次重大的失败，他后来反而变得更坚强、更明智了。

Jīnglìle nà cì zhòngdà de shībài, tā hòulái fǎn'ér biàn de gèng jiānqiáng, gèng míngzhìle.

After experiencing that major failure, he later instead became stronger and wiser.

Word Definition - 后来

hòu lái afterwards; later; newly arrived

Individual Character Details

后 hòu, hòu, hòu
来 lái