Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use after in a sentence

40 example sentences · adverb, preposition, conjunction

After means behind; later in time; following. Example: “I left the room, and the dog bounded after.”

Examples of after by meaning

adverbBehind; later in time; following.

  • I left the room, and the dog bounded after.
  • They lived happily ever after.
  • I might come next month, or the month after.

prepositionSubsequently to; following in time; later than.

  • We had a few beers after the game.
  • The time is a quarter after eight.
  • The Cold War began shortly after WWII.

prepositionSubsequently to and as a result of.

  • Sucess comes after hard work.

prepositionSubsequently to and considering.

  • I’m not putting you in charge again after the last disaster.

prepositionSubsequently to and in spite of.

  • After all that has happened, he is still my friend.
  • I can’t believe that, after all our advice against gambling, you walked into that casino!

prepositionSubsequently to the actions of (someone), in order to remedy a situation.

  • I'm tired of picking up after you. Why can't you clean your own messes?

prepositionRepeatedly, seemingly in a sequence without end.

  • day after day, time after time, mile after mile, beer after beer, smile after smile
  • Paper after paper spells out how vulnerable we are to internet-induced brain rot.2024 December 9, Siân Boyle, “Is doom scrolling really rotting our brains? The evidence is getting harder to ignore”, in The Guardian...

prepositionUsed to indicate recent completion of an activity.

  • Look at the way he has your bib destroyed that I was after washing in the morning!1906, Lady Gregory, “A Miracle Play”, in The Shanachie, volume 1
  • When I woke up it was black-dark and the music was after stopping.2004, Joseph O'Connor, Star of the Sea, page 40
  • Corrigan pointed back the way he'd come and explained, “You'd have been after riding past their loading platform because they don't have their sign overlooking where the train would be after stopping.2004, Tabor Evans, Longarm and the Great Milk Train Robbery

More sentences with after

  • After my father had a stroke, every time he tried to talk, it sounded like nonsense.From the entry nonsense
  • After failing his entrance exams, he decided to go into a trade.From the entry trade
  • He withdrew money to his bank account after several years of trading stocks on E-Trade.From the entry trade
  • The abbess was always after the nuns to keep the convent immaculately clean.From the entry abbess
  • After the past week of forced marches, only half the men are fully able.From the entry able
  • His face went ablush after realizing he had spoken out of turn.From the entry ablush
  • After my bout with Guillan-Barre Syndrome, it took me 6 months to be up and about again.From the entry about
  • The metal surface showed signs of abrasion after years of use.From the entry abrasion
  • After resting on his elbows, he stood on his toes, then walked on his heels.From the entry on
  • The proposed gas tax died after the powerful rural senator refused to let it out of committee.From the entry die
  • In many cultures, a baby turns one year old a year after its birth.From the entry one
  • Well, well, well, it seems the silent one does have a voice, after all.From the entry one
  • We really hit it off on the first date, so we decided to meet the week after.From the entry date
  • After that last screw-up of mine, my stock is pretty low around here.From the entry stock
  • After finishing second-bottom in the table, United were relegated from the division.From the entry relegate
  • After we left the forest, the country opened into a wide, flat plain.From the entry open
  • The electrician found the open in the circuit after a few minutes of testing.From the entry open
  • After years of debate over the best wine to serve at Thanksgiving, no real consensus has emerged.From the entry consensus
  • After reflecting a little bit, I've decided to consent to her practising the piano in the house.From the entry consent
  • Okay, but this is the last time. No more after that!From the entry time
  • He never fully recovered after he was gassed on the Western Front.From the entry gas
  • The crowds thinned after the procession had passed: there was nothing more to see.From the entry thin
  • After removing the bench, we can use the mark left on the wall as a reference point.From the entry bench
  • I was very anxious to know my score after I wrote the test.From the entry write

Meaning of after

  1. adverb Behind; later in time; following.
  2. preposition Subsequently to; following in time; later than.
  3. preposition Subsequently to and as a result of.

Full definition of after

Questions about after in a sentence

How do you use after in a sentence?
After is used as an adverb, preposition and conjunction. For example: “I left the room, and the dog bounded after.”
What is a short sentence with after?
“Sucess comes after hard work.”
What does after mean?
After means behind; later in time; following.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: after (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use after in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/after. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.