after

After is a common English word with several grammatical functions and a range of related meanings tied to time, sequence, and position. Most often it acts as a preposition meaning following in time or place, or subsequent to something: The concert started after the opening act. They arrived after sunset. It can also function as a conjunction linking a dependent clause: I left after the rain stopped. In some senses it can indicate pursuit or being behind in space: the dog ran after the ball. As a stand-alone adverb, its ordinary sense is usually expressed with the related form afterwards.

Etymology and origin: After comes from Old English æfter, of Germanic origin, originally with a spatial or chronological sense of behind or following. It has cognates in other Germanic languages, such as Dutch na and German nach. The word has broadened in modern English to cover temporal succession, order, and many fixed expressions.

Grammar and usage: As a preposition, after governs a noun phrase or clause that denotes what follows in time or space. As a conjunction, it introduces clauses describing subsequent events. The word also appears as a prefix in compound words that convey something that follows another thing, such as afterimage, aftercare, aftershock, aftertaste, and afterword. The adverbial form typically appears in set phrases such as afterwards or after that, rather than in generic adverb use.

Common phrases and derivatives: after all, after noon, after hours, aftertaste, aftermath, afterparty. Spelling variants for the adverb include afterwards and afterward, with the former more common in British usage and the latter in American usage.

See also: aft (nautical term for the rear), post- (a related prefix indicating subsequent timing), afterwards.