然后

然后 ránhòu

Then (afterwards)

然后 in a sentence HSK 3 繁體 然後 ranhou

What 然后 means

  1. Then (afterwards)

These meanings come from the same dictionary that powers the Chinese to Pinyin translator and the Chinese to English translator, so a whole sentence containing 然后 will read it the same way this page does.

Recognise a piece of 然后 but not the character it belongs to? Pick the parts in the component character finder and it will name the character for you — free for every character, with nothing to sign in to.

Character by character

然后 is written with 2 characters. Chinese words are usually easier to remember once you can see what each part contributes.

然
rán
Correct (thus - however)
后
hòu
Back (after - later - offspring)

How to write 然后

Stroke order is not decoration — it is what makes handwriting legible and what dictionary lookup by stroke count depends on.

Practise 然后 on printable 田字格 sheets, trace it in the writing practice tool, or watch any other character in the Stroke Order Animator.

然后 in a sentence

我先做作业,然后看电视。
Wǒ xiān zuò zuòyè, ránhòu kàn diànshì.
I do my homework first, then watch TV.
我们先吃饭,然后去公园。
Wǒmen xiān chī fàn, ránhòu qù gōngyuán.
Let's eat first, then go to the park.

Every sentence on this site that uses 然后 is collected on the 然后 sentence page. Want pinyin above a sentence of your own? Paste it into the Pinyin Annotator.

Questions about 然后

What does 然后 mean in English?

然后 is pronounced ránhòu and means Then (afterwards).

How do you pronounce 然后?

然后 is ránhòu in pinyin — written ranhou without tone marks. Press the audio button on this page to hear it spoken by a native voice.

What are the characters in 然后?

然后 is written with 2 characters: 然 (rán) Correct (thus - however), 后 (hòu) Back (after - later - offspring). Knowing the parts is usually how the whole word becomes memorable.

How is 然后 written in traditional Chinese?

然後. The simplified form 然后 is used in mainland China and Singapore; 然後 is used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. Both are pronounced ránhòu.

Is 然后 an HSK word?

Yes — 然后 is on the official HSK 3 vocabulary list. You can study it with the rest of that list on the HSK 3 page.

Studied around the same time

Keep going

Translate a whole sentence containing 然后 with the Chinese to Pinyin translator, study it alongside the rest of HSK 3, drill it with HSK flashcards, or save it above and review it on your review deck.

Browse the dictionary

Every word on this site links to its entry — tap any word in a graded reader, a translation result or an HSK list to land on a page like this one.

Dictionary index