"Before" or "in the future" in general
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]]Similar to talking about things in the past, talking about things in the future is very straight forward. You can use the simple but useful 以后 (yǐhòu), which also means "later."
Structure
To talk about things happening at some unspecified time in the future, you can use 以后 (yǐhòu). The structure is:
以前 / 以后， Subj. + Verb + Obj.
You can also move 以前 (yǐqián) or 以后 (yǐhòu) to right after the subject, and it's also correct.
Subj. + 以前 / 以后 + Verb + Obj.
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
In the examples below, the translation "in the future" is used, because using "later" for 以后 (yǐhòu) either sounds weird, or makes it sound like it's going to happen really soon (just a little later), rather than at some indefinite point in the future, which is what is meant.
- 以后 你们 会 想 我 吗？ In the future, will you miss me?
- 以后 你们 想 去哪儿 工作？ In the future, where do you want to go work?
- 我 以后 不 喝 酒 了 。 I will not drink alcohol in the future.
- 我们 以后 不 在 这里 工作 了。 We will not work here in the future.
- 你 以后 不 要 再 跟 他 见面 了。 In the future, don't see him again.
