In the future in general with "yihou"

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:

以后 + Subj. + Verb + Obj.

You can also move 以后 (yǐhòu) to right after the subject, and it's also correct.

Subj. + 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？ Yǐhòu nǐmen huì xiǎng wǒ ma? In the future, will you miss me?
• 以后 你 想 来 中国 吗？ Yǐhòu nǐ xiǎng lái Zhōngguó ma? In the future, do you want to come to China?
• 我 以后 不 喝 酒 了。 Wǒ yǐhòu bù hē jiǔ le. I will not drink alcohol in the future.
• 我们 以后 不 在 这里 工作 了。Wǒmen yǐhòu bù zài zhèlǐ gōngzuò le. We will not work here in the future.
• 你儿子 以后 想 做 什么？Nǐ érzi yǐhòu xiǎng zuò shénme? In the future, what does your son want to do?
• 以后 你们 想 去哪儿 工作？ Yǐhòu nǐmen xiǎng qù nǎr gōngzuò? In the future, where would you like to work?
• 以后 我们 会 有 一些 新 的 同事。Yǐhòu wǒmen huì yǒu yīxiē xīn de tóngshì. We will have some new co-workers in the future.
• 以后 你 可以 住 在 这里。Yǐhòu nǐ kěyǐ zhù zài zhèlǐ. In the future, you can live here.
• 他们 以后 会 结婚 吗？Tāmen yǐhòu huì jiéhūn ma? Will they get married in the future?
• 你 以后 不 要 跟 他 见面 了。Nǐ yǐhòu bù yào gēn tā jiànmiàn le. In the future, stop seeing him.

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