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事后 (shì hòu) — after the event; in hindsight; in retrospect

Definition

事后 means 'after the event' in the sense of looking back — hindsight or retrospective action. 以后 is a general future time word; 过后 focuses on 'afterwards, later' in narrative sequence.

noun
after the eventin hindsightin retrospect
Easily confused

Examples

  • 事后。
    Tā shì hòu cái yì shí dào zì jǐ cuò le.
    He only realized he was wrong after the event.
  • 事后，。
    shì hòu, Zhè jiā gōng sī cǎi qǔ le bǔ jiù cuò shī.
    Afterward, the company took remedial measures.
  • 。
    Hěn duō rén shì hòu dōu huì hòu huǐ dāng chū de jué dìng.
    Many people will regret their decision in hindsight.

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.

事shìevent
后hòuafter

事 means event and 后 means after, so the expression points to the time after something has happened.

Characters in this word

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

In 事, 又 is a hand and 中 is a flagpole with a drum; holding a flag in hand depicts performing a job.

Open 事 →

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.

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 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Time (Abstract)

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