然后

Character by character

• 然rán12 strokesHSK 2yes, certainly; pledge, promise
• 后hòu6 strokesHSK 1 traditional 後queen, empress, sovereign; (simp. for 後) behind, rear, after

Each character links to its stroke order page with a tracing and a writing exercise.

Example sentences

• 然后呢？

  Rán hòu ne

  And then?

  Listen

Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR), contributed by their community.

Words with the same characters

These words share at least one character with 然后. Reading them together is how the character starts to stick — the same characters in a different context.

• 后hòuHSK 1

  empress; queen; (archaic) monarch; ruler

• 最后zuì hòuHSK 1

  final; last; finally; ultimate

• 之后zhī hòuHSK 4

  after; behind; (at the beginning of a sentence) afterwards; since then

• 以后yǐ hòuHSK 2

  after; later; afterwards; following; later on; in the future

• 当然dāng ránHSK 3

  only natural; as it should be; certainly; of course; without doubt

• 虽然suī ránHSK 2

  although; even though (often used correlatively with 是 or 是 etc)

• 突然tū ránHSK 3

  sudden; abrupt; unexpected

• 自然zì ránHSK 3

  nature; natural; naturally

• 仍然réng ránHSK 3

  still; as before; yet

• 后来hòu láiHSK 2

  afterwards; later; newly arrived

• 居然jū ránHSK 5

  unexpectedly; to one's surprise; go so far as to

• 后面hòu mianHSK 3

  the back; the rear; the last bit; behind; near the end; at the back; later; afterwards

• 显然xiǎn ránHSK 3

  clearly; evidently; obviously

• 竟然jìng ránHSK 4

  unexpectedly; to one's surprise; in spite of everything; in that crazy way; actually; to go as far as to

• 既然jì ránHSK 4

  since; as; this being the case

• 然而rán érHSK 4

  however; yet; but

• 依然yī ránHSK 4

  still; as before

• 不然bù ránHSK 4

  not so; no; or else; otherwise; if not; How about ...?

• 背后bèi hòuHSK 3

  behind; at the back; in the rear; behind sb's back

• 后悔hòu huǐHSK 5

  to regret; to feel remorse

• 果然guǒ ránHSK 3

  really; sure enough; as expected; if indeed

• 后果hòu guǒHSK 3

  consequences; aftermath

• 今后jīn hòuHSK 2

  hereafter; henceforth; in the future; from now on

• 随后suí hòuHSK 5

  soon after