Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use later in a sentence

40 example sentences · adverb, adjective, interjection

Later means afterward in time (used with than when comparing with another time). Example: “My roommate arrived first. I arrived later.”

Examples of later by meaning

adverbAfterward in time (used with than when comparing with another time).

  • My roommate arrived first. I arrived later.
  • I arrived later than my roommate.

adverbAt some unspecified time in the future.

  • I wanted to do it now, but I’ll have to do it later.

adverbWhat if (something problematic or unanticipated happens); if not (something undesirable will happen).

  • Compare Malay nanti (“later; if not”)
  • Later you fall asleep how?

adjectiveComing afterward in time (used with than when comparing with another time).

  • The Victorian era is a later period of English history than the Elizabethan era.
  • The eldest son was usually given the name of his paternal grandfather, later children those of other relatives.1945, E[lizabeth] G[idley] Withycombe, “Introduction”, in The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon...

adjectiveComing afterward in distance (following an antecedent distance as embedded within an adverbial phrase).

  • I felt some leg pain during the first mile of my run and I strained my calf two miles later.

adjectiveAt some time in the future.

  • The meeting was adjourned to a later date.

More sentences with later

  • I'll come over later and see if I can fix your computer.From the entry see
  • He once owned a painting of the house, which painting would later be stolen.From the entry which
  • The book had lain on the attic floor until it was found decades later.From the entry lain
  • The original manuscript contained spelling errors which were fixed in later versions.From the entry original
  • Pack the boxes, but hold out a few blue ones for later.From the entry hold out
  • I made a recording of the TV show so that I could watch it later.From the entry recording
  • The whole lot of grafters was later turned out of office.From the entry turn out
  • The legislature tabled the amendment, so they will not be discussing it until later.From the entry table
  • The motion was tabled, ensuring that it would not be taken up until a later date.From the entry table
  • The theme of the prodigal son recurs later in the third act.From the entry recur
  • A small extra effort now can maybe save you much work later.From the entry maybe
  • Sooner than have a problem later, I made sure the policy was in order.From the entry sooner
  • Later that year, he was appointed to the bishopric of Lindesmeere.From the entry bishopric
  • The pronoun in "We're going to a party later, but you aren't invited" is an exclusive "we".From the entry exclusive
  • We're going round to Mike's gaff later to watch the footie.From the entry gaff
  • She was dubious about my plan at first, but later I managed to persuade her to cooperate.From the entry dubious
  • I'm meeting Bob later to bounce some ideas off him about the new product range.From the entry bounce
  • The melody jumps up an octave at the beginning, then later drops back down an octave.From the entry octave
  • Some sort of mental and social pathology seemed to sweep over the discourse later that autumn.From the entry pathology
  • The disturbances at the periphery became a focal concern later in the investigation.From the entry focal
  • In later years, the professor became known as an eminent historian.From the entry eminent
  • The peculiarity of meeting six people on a usually deserted trail only struck me later on.From the entry peculiarity
  • The market fell this morning but rallied later in the day.From the entry rally
  • He used to be an extremist but moderated later in life.From the entry moderate
  • I was tending to get up later and later after the breakup.From the entry tend
  • Don't worry about the mess on the carpet – I'll hoover it up later.From the entry hoover up
  • Never mind about me — you go and I’ll join you later.From the entry never mind
  • Ey up, ther's somedy comin daan t'rooad, Aw'll talk to thee later.From the entry ey up
  • Here the water just trickles along, but later it becomes a torrent.From the entry trickle
  • The author’s novels from her salad years lacked the sophistication and depth of her later works.From the entry salad year
  • The new editor is backward compatible with all versions later than 1.17.From the entry backward compatible

Meaning of later

  1. adverb Afterward in time (used with than when comparing with another time).
  2. adverb At some unspecified time in the future.
  3. adverb What if (something problematic or unanticipated happens); if not (something undesirable will happen).

Full definition of later

Questions about later in a sentence

How do you use later in a sentence?
Later is used as an adverb, adjective and interjection. For example: “My roommate arrived first. I arrived later.”
What is a short sentence with later?
“Later you fall asleep how?”
What does later mean?
Later means afterward in time (used with than when comparing with another time).

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: later (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.

Last updated:

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