后来 (hòu lái) — afterwards; later | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

后来 tells the order of past events: 'later, afterwards, then'. Unlike 以后 (after any time), 之后 (written, more formal), 此后 (after a stated event), it focuses on what happened next in a past story.

noun

afterwardslater

Examples

后来。
hòu lái Wǒ xué xí hàn yǔ le.
Later I started learning Chinese.
后来。
hòu lái Wǒ men jiàn miàn le.
We met later.
后来。
hòu lái Wǒ cái zhī dào zhè jiàn shì.
I only found out about this later.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

后hòulater

来láicome

后 'later' and 来 'come' together give the sense of what comes after.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 後; 后 is its simplified writing.

幺幺yāothread
夊夊suīfoot

The traditional form 後 showed 夊 (foot) bound by 幺 (thread), a foot caught by a rope and lagging behind; the simplified 后 is a later abbreviation, and 后 also has a different meaning.

Open 后 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 來; 来 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 來 shows a wheat plant: a central ear, upward leaves, and downward stem and roots. The simplified 来 is a later shorthand.

Open 来 →