Meaning
empress; queen; surname; back; behind; rear
Chinese: 后面、以后。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “hou” becomes a different word in each tone. 后 is the 4th tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 最后zuì hòufinal; last; ultimate; finally
- 后面hòu mianthe back; the rear; the last bit; behind
- 后天hòu tiānthe day after tomorrow; life after birth; acquired (not innate or congenital); a posteriori
- 后边hòu bianthe back; the rear; the last bit; behind
- 然后rán hòuthen; after that; afterwards
Example Sentence
吃过晚饭后，我们去散步。Chī guò wǎn fàn hòu, wǒ men qù sàn bù.After dinner, we went for a walk.
吃Chīto eat过guòto cross晚饭wǎn fànevening meal后hòuempress，我们wǒ menwe去qùto go散步sàn bùto take a walk。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
In simplified Chinese 后 covers both ‘behind, after, later’ (formerly 後) and ‘queen, empress’ (皇后). The 後 ‘behind’ pictured short steps lagging behind.
A way to remember it
Behind / after — and also ‘queen’ (皇后).