In the future in general with "yihou"

Like talking about the past, talking about things in the future is very straight forward. You can use the simple 以后 (yǐhòu) which means "later".

Structure

To talk about things happening at some unspecified time in the future, you can use 以后 (yǐ hòu). The structure is:

以后， + Subject + Verb + Object

This can be used to talk about actions in the future, or to talk about events that happened after other events in a story.

Examples

• 以后 ， 我 会 学 中文 。 Yǐhòu, wǒ huì xué Zhōngwén. Later, I will learn Chinese.
• 以后 ， 我 要 去 中国 。 Yǐhòu, wǒ yào qù Zhōngguó. Later, I will go to China.
• 我 以后 不 喝 啤酒 了 。 Wǒ yǐhòu bù hē píjiǔ le. I will not drink beer later.
• 他 以后 不 在 这里 工作 了 。 Tā yǐhòu bù zài zhèlǐ gōngzuò le. He will not work here later.
• 以后 ， 我 会 再 来 这里 。 Yǐhòu, wǒ huì zài lái zhèlǐ. Later, I will come here again.
• 他 以后 想 做 一 个 老师 。 Tā yǐhòu xiǎng zuò yī gè lǎoshī. Later he wants to become a teacher.
• 以后 ， 我 要 开 一 个 公司 。 Yǐhòu, wǒ yào kāi yī gè gōngsī. Later, I want to open a company.
• 我 以后 会 联系 你 。 Wǒ yǐhòu huì liánxì nǐ. Later I will contact you.
• 以后 ， 我们 不 会 再 见面 了 。 Yǐhòu, wǒmen bù huì zài jiànmiàn le. Later, we won't meet again.
• 我 以后 想 去 Google 工作 。 Wǒ yǐhòu xiǎng qù Google gōngzuò. I want to later go to Google to work.

See also

• "Before" in general
• After a specific time
• Before and after with "zhiqian" and "zhihou"
• Sequencing past events with "houlai"
• Expressing future with "jiang"
• Comparing "yihou" and "houlai"

Sources and further reading

Books

• Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide (pp. 268) →buy
• Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar (pp. 26 - 27) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (3rd ed) (pp. 293-4) →buy