DICTIONARY
The Chinese word houlai - 后来 - hòulái
(later in Chinese)
Phonetic script (Hanyu Pinyin)
hòulái
Listen to pronunciation
(Mandarin = standard Chinese without accent)
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English translations
later,
later on, then, afterwards
Chinese characters:
For obtaining stroke order animations, visit the links to the individual characters below.
后来 ( houlai / hòulái ) in traditional characters
後來
Chinese Pinyin example sentence with 后来 ( houlai / hòulái ) ⓘWriting in Pinyin
Before using this Pinyin example sentence, consider that Chinese characters should always be your first choice in written communication.
If you cannot use Chinese characters, it is preferable to use the Pinyin with tones. Only use the Pinyin without tones if there's no other option (e.g. writing a text message from/to a mobile phone that doesn't support special characters such as ā, í, ǒ, ù).
Before using this Pinyin example sentence, consider that Chinese characters should always be your first choice in written communication.
If you cannot use Chinese characters, it is preferable to use the Pinyin with tones. Only use the Pinyin without tones if there's no other option (e.g. writing a text message from/to a mobile phone that doesn't support special characters such as ā, í, ǒ, ù).
Houlai tamen cheng le hao pengyou.
Hòulái tāmen chéng le hǎo péngyou.– English translation: Later they became good friends.
Topic
Tags and additional information
(Meaning of individual characters, character components etc.)
also: after | to come | only if both events occurred in the past
后来 ( houlai / hòulái ) belongs to the 500 most common composed words in Chinese language (rank 116)
后来 ( houlai / hòulái ) belongs to the 500 most common composed words in Chinese language (rank 116)
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Version 5.52 / Last updated: 2026-11-03