In Japanese, 〜前に transcribed mae ni follows an action that comes “before” another, while 〜後で transcribed ato de follows an action that comes “after” another. For example:
- 出かける前に着替えたい 。Transcription: Dekakeru mae ni kigae tai.Translation: I want to change before I go out.
- 朝ごはんを食べた後で、学校に行く。Transcription: Asagohan o tabeta ato de gakkō ni iku.Translation: I (will) go to school after I eat breakfast.
In this post, we’ll go over how to use these two endings in sentences, and introduce some other equivalents to “after,” like 〜てから transcribed te kara. Ready to have a look? Let’s get started!
“Before”: 〜前に [mae ni]
In Japanese, 〜前に transcribed mae ni follows something that happens “before” something else. 前 transcribed mae can either mean “in front” (in space) or “before” (in time). When it’s used to talk about time, it’s usually used before the particle に transcribed ni.
What comes before 〜前に [mae ni]?
The ending 〜前に transcribed mae ni can follow a verb in its dictionary form, a noun + の transcribed no, or a phrase for a duration of time. Let’s look at each possibility in more depth.
A verb in its dictionary form
Verb
(dictionary form)〜前にTranscription: mae niThe verb form before 〜前に transcribed mae ni is always in its dictionary form regardless of the tense of the main action of the sentence. Be careful about this in the past tense, since it’s quite different from English!
- dictionary formmain action (non-past tense)朝ごはんを食べる前に着替える。Transcription: Asagohan o taberu mae ni kigaeru.Translation: I (will) change clothes before I eat breakfast.
- dictionary formmain action (past tense)朝ごはんを食べる前に着替えた。Transcription: Asagohan o taberu mae ni kigaeta.Translation: I changed clothes before I ate breakfast.Notice that, in Japanese, this is literally “...before I eat breakfast”!
A noun + の [no]
〜前に transcribed mae ni can follow a noun for an action (e.g. “jogging”) or event (e.g. “the trip”), as long as you first attach particle の transcribed no to the noun.
Noun + の transcribed no
〜前にTranscription: mae niジョギングの前にペットボトルに水を入れておこう。Transcription: petto botoru ni mizu o irete okō.Translation: Let’s put water in the bottle before jogging.旅行の前にレポートを終わらせた。Transcription: repōto o owaraseta.Translation: I finished the report before the trip.A duration
When 〜前に transcribed mae ni is used after an expression of duration like “one year” or “five months,” it is most often translated as “ago”, rather than “before”.
Duration
〜前にTranscription: mae niこの町には一年前に引っ越してきた。Transcription: Kono machi ni wa hikkoshite kita.Translation: I moved to this town one year ago.五ヶ月 前に 大学を卒業した。Transcription: daigaku o sotsugyō shita.Translation: I graduated from college five months ago.
When to use 〜前 [mae] rather than 〜前に [mae ni]
In some cases, you can use 〜前 transcribed mae without に transcribed ni, and it still means “before.” You can do this when the main verb is an ongoing action or situation that stretches out for some period of time. Usually this will either involve an existence verb or a verb in a continuous form, with an ending like 〜ている transcribed -te iru.
Whatever happened “before”
Ongoing action / situation
前に [mae ni]: Is it always an ending?
When 前に transcribed mae ni is used without a preceding word or phrase, it is still usually translated as “before,” but it’s used to discuss whether or not someone has previously had an experience. It doesn’t describe something that happened before something else.
You can also use 前から transcribed mae kara, which is the independent 前 transcribed mae before the particle から transcribed kara, to mean “for a while” or “since before.” This implies that the action or event started in the past and still continues in the present.
“After”: 〜後で [ato de]
In Japanese, 〜後で transcribed ato de follows something that happens “after” something else. 後 transcribed ato is a word that means “behind” or “after”, and can be used to talk either about space or time. When it’s used to talk about time, it’s generally followed by the particle で transcribed de .
There are also several other ways to say “after” in Japanese. In the sections below, we’ll first go over how to use 〜後で transcribed ato de, then we’ll talk through some of the others, including:
〜てから transcribed -te kara
〜後 transcribed ato
〜後に transcribed anto ni / go ni / nochi ni → The same spelling, three different readings!
What comes before 〜後で [ato de]?
〜後で transcribed ato de can follow a verb in its -ta form or a noun + の transcribed no. Let’s look at each case a little more closely!
A verb in its -ta vorm
When the ending 〜後で transcribed ato de is attached to a verb, that verb is always in its -ta form (past tense).
Verb
ta-form〜後でTranscription: ato deThis is true regardless of the tense of the main action. Be careful about this in the non-past, as it’s quite different from English!
- ta-formnon-past朝ごはんを食べた後で、学校に 行く。Transcription: Asagohan o tabeta ato de gakkō ni iku.Translation: I (will) go to school after I eat breakfast.Notice that in Japanese, this is literally “...after I ate breakfast”!
- ta-formpast tense両親が帰った後で、買い物に出かけた。Transcription: Ryōshin ga kaetta ato de, kaimono ni dekaketa.Translation: I went shopping after my parents went home.
A noun + の [no]
〜後で transcribed ato de can also follow a noun plus the particle の transcribed no. In this case, the noun must represent an action (e.g. “jogging”) or event (e.g. “the game”).
Noun + の transcribed no
〜後でTranscription: ato de試合の後でアイスクリームを食べに行く。Transcription: aisukuriimu o tabe ni iku.Translation: I will go to eat ice cream after the game.会議の後で報告書を書き直すつもりだ。Transcription: hōkokusho o kaki naosu tsumori da.Translation: I intend on rewriting the report after the meeting.
〜てから [-te kara]: Another way to say “after”
The expression 〜てから transcribed -te kara is another way to say “after” in Japanese. This ending combines the te-form of a verb with the particle から transcribed kara. In many situations, both 〜てから transcribed -te kara and 〜後で transcribed ato de are interchangeable, but there is a slight difference in their implications.
Using 〜てから transcribed -te kara places the emphasis on the first action in the sentence:
朝ごはんを食べてから、出かけた。Transcription: Asagohan o tabete kara, dekaketa.Translation: I ate breakfast (and then), I went out.When you use 〜てから transcribed -te kara there is also an implication that the first action was necessary in order for the second one to happen. So the sentence above sounds like you couldn’t go out until you ate breakfast.
Using 〜後で transcribed ato de places emphasis on the second action in the sentence:
朝ごはんを食べた後で、出かけた。Transcription: Asagohan o tabeta ato de, dekaketa.Translation: I went out after I ate breakfast.When you use this ending, there is also a looser connection between the two events, you’re just placing them in time, not ordering them in a set process.
〜てから transcribed -te kara is not used when the main clause expresses something beyond the control of the subject of the sentence. 〜後で transcribed ato de can be used in this circumstance.
- ✅ 父が家を出た後で、雨が降った。Transcription: Chichi ga ie o deta ato de, ame ga futta.Translation: It rained after my father had left our house.My father did not control the rain.
- ❌父が家を出てから、雨が降った。Transcription: Chichi ga ie o dete kara, ame ga futta.While this is technically grammatical, the phrasing makes it sound like my father can control when it rains!
〜てから transcribed -te kara also has another use, which 〜後で transcribed ato de doesn’t have: it can indicate the starting point of a change or continuing state.
- ✅ この町に住み始めてから、何年経ちましたか。Transcription: Kono machi ni sumi hajimete kara, nan nen tachimashita ka.Translation: How many years has it been since you started living in this town?
- ❌この町に住み始めた後で、何年経ちましたか。Transcription: Kono machi ni sumi hajimeta ato de, nan nen tachimashita ka.
Check out this discussion of から transcribed kara for a point of origin for a point of origin to learn more!
When to use 〜後 [ato] instead of 〜後で [ato de]?
It’s possible to drop the particle で transcribed de at the end of 〜後で transcribed ato de. Much like we saw with 〜前 transcribed mae, this happens when the main action or situation is ongoing or continues for some time. Often this means it will be an existence verb or a continuous -te iru form.
What happened “after”
ongoing state / continuing action
How to use the ending 〜後に?
The kanji 後 can be read three different ways: transcribed ato, transcribed go, or transcribed nochi. All of these can be used before the particle に transcribed ni as a part of time expressions. Let’s look at when you might want to read 〜後に as transcribed go ni or transcribed nochi ni instead of transcribed ato ni!
〜後に [ato ni]
In everyday life, you will sometimes hear hear native speakers use 〜後に transcribed ato ni instead of 〜後で transcribed ato de. These two both mean “after,” and are used in the same grammatical contexts, but there can be a slight difference in meaning:
〜後に transcribed ato ni is best for describing steps in a process. We usually use this when one thing comes “immediately after” or “right after” another, often when one event leads to another. You might translate sentences like this using “and then.”
- お風呂に入った後に、寝た。Transcription: Ofuro ni haitta ato ni, neta.Translation: Right after I took a bath, I went to sleep.Think: “I took a bath and then went to sleep.”
- 花が咲いた後に実がなります。Transcription: Hana ga saita ato ni mi ga narimasu.Translation: After the flower blooms, it bears fruit.The blooming leads to the fruit. “The flower blooms and then it bears fruit.” It’s a step in a process, so 〜後に transcribed ato ni sounds very natural.
〜後で transcribed ato de is a more general “after,” and tends to be chosen more if there is a longer gap of time. This is more about placing events in time rather than ordering events in a process.
- お風呂に入った後で、寝た。Transcription: Ofuro ni haitta ato de, neta.Translation: I went to sleep after I took a bath.This would work if you took a bath, did some dishes, put in a load of laundry, then went to bed. It sounds more like you’re describing two things that you happened to do this evening.
- ❌花が咲いた後で実がなります。Transcription: Hana ga saita ato de mi ga narimasu.Translation: (Some time) after the flower blooms, it bears fruit.While this is technically grammatical, a native speaker would probably not phrase it this way. It makes it sound like the events are unconnected with each other.
〜後に [go ni]
The reading “go” for 後 is only used when 後 is directly attached to a noun, without の transcribed no in between. When it’s related to time, it comes after a noun that represents a duration of time and it’s translated as “after…,” “...later,” or “...from now.”
- 授業後Transcription: jyugyō goTranslation: after class
- 夏休み後Transcription: natsu yasumi goTranslation: after summer break
When this type of construction is used in a sentence, it is never followed by the particle で transcribed de. Instead it is followed by に transcribed ni, though the particle can sometimes be dropped.
- 三年後に、この街の人口は半分に減っているだろう。Transcription: San nen go ni, kono machi no jinkō wa hanbun ni hette iru darō.Translation: Three years from now, the city's population will probably be halved.
- 澪が駅に着いたのは、新幹線の発車時刻の10分後だった。Transcription: Mio ga eki ni tsuita no wa, shinkansen no hassha jikoku no juppun go datta.Translation: Mio arrived at the station ten minutes after the Shinkansen departure time.
〜後に [nochi ni]
The reading 〜後に transcribed nochi ni is basically a more formal equivalent of 〜後に transcribed go ni or 〜後に transcribed ato ni. It’s used in the same grammatical contexts, and has more-or-less the same meaning, it’s just more formal. You will very often hear transcribed nochi and transcribed nochi ni in weather forecasts.
- 協議の後に、結論を出すことにした。Transcription: Kyōgi no nochi ni, ketsuron o dasu koto ni shita.Translation: After discussion, we decided to come to a conclusion.
- 雨のち晴れTranscription: Ame nochi hareTranslation: Sunny after rainOften this reading will be written using hiragana as のち transcribed nochi, since you can’t tell that this reading is intended just from the context.
The one place where 〜のち transcribed nochi and 〜後 transcribed ato / go is that, where 〜後 transcribed ato / go can be used if one thing happened immediately after the other, のち transcribed nochi is generally not used unless the main event happens a good deal after the noun it marks:
- ✅彼はすぐ後に来ます。Transcription: Kare wa sugu ato ni kimasu.Translation: He will come immediately after.❌彼はすぐ後に来ます。Transcription: Kare wa sugu nochi ni kimasu.
- ✅5分後に始まります。Transcription: Go fun go ni hajimarimasu.Translation: It will start in five minutes.❌5分後 (のち) に始まります。Transcription: Go fun nochi ni hajimarimasu.
To sum up
In this post, we have explored the endings 〜前に transcribed mae nimeaning before and 〜後で transcribed ato demeaning after. We also looked at several other ways to say “after,” including 〜てから transcribed -te kara. Here’s a quick recap of the sentence structures to use with each ending!
| Before | |
|---|---|
Verb (dictionary form) | 〜前に Transcription: mae ni The particle at the end can be dropped if the main event is a continuous action or a state! |
Noun + の transcribed no | |
Duration (with a number) | |
| After | |
|---|---|
Verb (-ta form) | 〜後で / 〜後に Transcription: ato de / ato ni The particle at the end can be dropped if the main event is a continuous action or a state! 後に can be read as transcribed nochi ni, in formal contexts. |
Noun + の transcribed no | |
Verb (-te form) | 〜から Transcription: kara |
Duration Noun | 〜後に Transcription: go ni 後に can be read as transcribed nochi ni, in formal contexts. |
Ready to practice what you’ve learned? Check out our “before” and “after” activities for Japanese to test your skills! Happy learning!
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