Sequencing past events with "houlai"

"⋯⋯, 后来⋯⋯" (..., hòulái...) is used to sequence past events in the same way that "Afterward..." is in English. Something very important to note is that 后来 can only be used with two events that have already occurred.

Structure

Past Event 1 + 后来 + Past Event 2

Examples

Here are some examples of this pattern in action:

• 开始 他 不 同意，但 后来 他 同意 了。 Kāishǐ tā bù tóngyì, dàn hòulái tā tóngyì le.At first he didn't agree, but then he did later.
• 上 个 星期 我 的 朋友 生病 了，不过 后来 他 病 好 了。Shàng gè xīngqī wǒ de péngyou shēngbìng le, bùguò hòulái tā bìng hǎo le.Last week my friend got sick, but then he got better.
• 她 昨天 吃 了 海鲜，后来 她 食物 中毒 了。Tā zuótiān chī le hǎixiān, hòulái tā shíwù zhòngdú le.She ate seafood yesterday, but then she got food poisoning.
• 我邻居家 的 小孩 丢 了 一年，后来 又 找到 了。 Wǒ línjū jiā de xiǎohái diū le, hòulái yòu zhǎo dào le.My neighbor's child was missing for one year, and then they found him .
• 北京 以前 叫 北平 ，后来 改 成 了 北京。 Běijīng yǐqián jiào běipíng, hòulái gǎi chéng le Běijīng. Beijing used to be called Beiping and got changed into Beijing later.

See also

• Before and after with "zhiqian" and "zhihou"
• Saying "ever since" with "yilai"
• In the future in general
• Comparing "houlai" and "ranhou"

Sources and further reading

Books

• Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide (pp. 267) →buy