We already know one way of saying “after” in Japanese: by using the te form.
コーヒーを飲んで、仕事を始めました。
I drank coffee and then started work.
If we want to emphasize that A happened after B then we can add から to the te form of the first clause.
コーヒーを飲んでから、仕事を始めました。
After I drank coffee I started work.
We can also use the following structure.
【Prior Action】後【で or に】【Subsequent Action】
The verb in the prior action must be in the standard simple past tense. This gives rise to the same “issue” we saw when using “before”; namely, that the tense of the first clause is not dependent on the time of the action. This means we need to form sentences with literal translations like, “After I drank tea I will phone my friend” to get the correct grammar in Japanese.
お茶を飲んだ後で、友達に電話します。
After I drink tea I will phone my friend.
試験が終わった後に、受験者は同時に部屋を出ました。
After the examination finished the candidates left the room at the same time.
To be clear, the following is incorrect.
お茶を飲む後で、友達に電話します。(✘)
We use the possessive particle to connect 後 to nouns.
飲み会の後で、すぐに帰ってきて寝ました。
I came back home and slept straight after the drinks.
〜後で vs 〜後に
This is actually quite a frustrating one to explain because in many cases both are natural. Used on its own to mean “later” 後で is typically used.
後で電話します。
後に電話します。(✘)
I’ll call you later.
Remember the following:
〜後で (ato de): Used when the second half of the sentence is a deliberate, intentional action (I did A, and then I chose to do B).
〜後に (ato ni): Used when the second half of the sentence is a natural event, a state, or something outside of your control (After A happened, B naturally occurred / I discovered B).
食べた後で、友達に電話する。
食べた後に、友達に電話する。(✘)
After I’ve eaten I will call my friend.
雨が降った後で、晴れた。(✘)
雨が降った後に、晴れた。
After rain fell the weather cleared.
～後で vs 〜てから
Compared with 後で, ～てから places importance on the following three things:
1: Order, i.e. that B must happen after A.
日程を確認してから、ホテルを予約する。
日程を確認した後で、ホテルを予約する。(✘)
Book the hotel after you’ve confirmed the itinerary.
Clearly the fact that you will book the hotel after checking the itinerary is not a coincidence; order is important and so ～てから is the more natural sentence.
2: Intention of the prior action.
けんかしてから、謝まる。(✘)
けんかした後で、謝まる。
Apologise after an argument.
The first sentence suggests that you intended to have the argument and then apologise; whereas the second is more natural because it simply states that the apology happened after the argument without insinuating any prior intention (which is presumably the case).
3: Continuity of the final action.
結婚してから、ずっと東京に住んでいる。
結婚した後で、ずっと東京に住んでいる。(△)
Since we got married we’ve always been living in Tokyo.
Time and Durations (Pronounced as ご)
Exactly like the rule for 前に, when attaching 後 to a specific duration of time (such as minutes, days, or years), we drop the の particle. However, crucially, when attached directly to a time duration in this way, the pronunciation of the kanji changes from あと (ato) to ご (go). When used like this, it translates to “in [amount of time]” or “after [amount of time]”.