… ，后来 … (afterwards / later — past)
And then, later on…
- Telling a story about the past? Use afterwards后来 for "afterwards".
- early先…，afterwards后来… = "at first…, later…".
- Careful: afterwards后来 is for the past only.
…，afterwards后来 …
- afterwards后来 links a later past event to an earlier one.
I我first先go去了Beijing北京，later后来go去了Shanghai上海。
- 先去(completed / change)了Beijing, capital of the…北京，afterwards后来to go去(completed / change)了Shanghai municipality…上海 = "first I went to Beijing, then later to Shanghai."
Practice
First Beijing, then later Shanghai: 先去北京，____ 去上海。
先…，后来… = at first…, later…(past): 先去北京,后来去上海.
Practice
Build: “First Beijing, later Shanghai.”
先…，后来…: 先去了北京 + 后来 + 去了上海.
afterwards后来 vs after以后
- afterwards后来 = later, in the past (storytelling). after以后 can point to the future.
Explore
Correct or broken?
后来 moves a PAST story to its next chapter — never plans, never futures.
Practice
后来 is used for which time frame?
后来 = later, in the PAST; for the future use 以后.
Practice
You can use 后来 to talk about future plans.
后来 is past-only; for the future use 以后.
Recap
Key idea
- … ，afterwards后来 … — "afterwards / later" (past events only)
- Pairs with early先…: early先…，afterwards后来…
- afterwards后来 = past only; after以后 can be future
Read the full reference: HSK 3 grammar — Nouns.