Chinese Grammar Bank – The 

Difference Between 以
来 and 后来
The words “以来 (yǐ lái)” and “后来 (hòulái)” are two prepositions commonly used in
Mandarin.

Usage of 以来 yǐ lái

“以来” refers to the period from a certain time to the present. It is the Chinese equivalent of the
English word “since.”
We always use this phrase to modify the length of time.
period of time + 以来
It is also familiar to collocate “以来” with prepositions “自” or “从.”
Modified form:
自/从 + period of time + 以来
Chinese Pinyin English

zhè shì xiāo shòu liàng zì

这是销售量自年初以来的第 This was the first increase in
nián chū yǐ lái de dì yī cì
一次增长。 sales since the beginning of the year.
zēng zhǎng

开学以来，生活忙碌了不 kāi xué yǐ lái, shēng huó

Life has been busy since school started.
少。 máng lù le bù shǎo

rù xià yǐ lái，zhè gè
入夏以来，这个城市下了许 It has rained many times in this city since the
chéng
多次雨。 beginning of summer.
shì xià le xǔ duō cì yǔ

cháng qī yǐ lái，wǒ men

长期以来，我们习惯与在家 xí
For a long time, we are used to cooking at home.
里自己做饭。 guàn yǔ zài jiā lǐ zì jǐ zuò
fàn

cóng shàng rèn yǐ lái，tā

yì He has been held in deep
从上任以来，他一直很饱受
zhí hěn bǎo shòu rén affection by people since his
人们爱戴。
men tenure.
ài dài
Usage of 后来 hòu lái
“后来” is often used to sequence two events that have already occurred.
It is the Chinese equivalent of the English word “then; afterward.” It’s always used in the middle
of a sequence of events that happened in the past, while “以来” can’t be used this way.
past event 1, 后来 + past event 2
But note that this structure is not entirely fixed. Instead, it is variable depending on the meanings
of sentences.
Chinese Pinyin English

我们交谈了一会，后来做了决wǒ men jiāo tán le yí huì, hòu lái zuò le jué We talked for a while and then made the
定。 dìng decision.

我们的交谈话题后来转移到了wǒ men de jiāo tán huà tí hòu lái zhuǎn yí dào The topic of our conversation then turned
足球上。 le zú qiú shàng to football.

我们曾经是邻居，后来他搬走wǒ men céng jīng shì lín jū，hòu lái tā bān zǒu
We used to be neighbours before he moved out.
了。 le

他本来不想提起那件事，后来tā běn lái bù xiǎng tí qǐ nà jiàn shì，hòu lái hái He didn’t want to mention it at first, but then he
还是提了。 shì tí le did.

他很像做个话剧演员，但是后tā hěn xiàng zuò gè huà jù yǎn yuán，dàn shì

He wanted to be an actor, but then gave up.
来放弃了。 hòu lái fàng qì le

我们曾经是好朋友，但后来再wǒ men céng jīng shì hǎo péng yǒu，dàn hòu We used to be good friends, but we never met
也没见过面了。 lái zài yě méi jiàn guò miàn le again.

这件事后来怎么样了？ zhè jiàn shì hòu lái zěn me yàng le What happened after this?

他原本答应出席会议，但是后tā yuán běn dā yìng chū xí huì yì, dàn shì hòu He had promised to attend the meeting. But
来推辞了。 lái tuī cí le later, he declined.

他以前在上海工作，后来又去tā yǐ qián zài shàng hǎi gōng zuò，hòu lái yòu He used to work in Shanghai. Afterward, he
了杭州工作。 qù le háng zhōu gōng zuò moved to Hangzhou to work.

后来他们又相遇了。 hòu lái tā men yòu xiāng yù le Shortly afterward, they met again.
以来” refers to the period from a certain time to the present, just as “since” in English; while “
后来” refers to the time after something (equivalent to “later“), just as “afterward.”
Chinese Pinyin English

他们从上大学以来，一直 tā men cóng shàng dà xué yǐ

They have been in love since college.
是情侣。 lái，yì zhí shì qíng lǚ

他们在大学认识，后来成 tā men zài dà xué rèn shi， They met in college and then fell in
为了情侣。 hòu lái chéng wéi le qíng lǚ love.

Chinese Pinyin English

2015 年以来，我一直居住 2015 nián yǐ lái，wǒ yì zhí jū zhù I have been living in New York since
在纽约。 zài niǔ yuē 2015.

2015 年我来到了纽约，后 2015 nián wǒ lái dào le niǔ I came to New York in 2015 and
来一直住在这里。 yuē，hòu lái yì zhí zhù zài zhè lǐ have lived here ever since.

We may use “以来” and “后来” to express similar thoughts about time but with distinct
sentence structures.

Simple Dialogue
Use the following dialog to get to know the actual application of “以来” and “后来” in
everyday conversations!
 嗨！你最近看到茉莉了吗？
hāi ！ nǐ zuì jìn kàn dào mò lì le ma？
Hi! Have you seen Jasmine lately?
没有，从年初以来，我就没见到她了。
méi yǒu， cóng nián chū yǐ lái， wǒ jiù méi jiàn dào tā le
No, I haven’t seen her since the beginning of the year.
发生了什么吗？
fā shēng le shén me ma？
What happened?
听说她换了份工作，后来搬到了上海。
tīng shuō tā huàn le fèn gōng zuò，hòu lái bān dào le shàng hǎi。
I heard that she changed her job and then moved to Shanghai