然后
HSK 3 (exam 2025)HSK 2 (2021)Old HSK 3
然后 (ránhòu) · then
然后 (ránhòu) means “then; after that”. It is written with 2 characters: 然 (certainly) + 后 (behind). It is an HSK 3 word in the current exam syllabus (2025).
How 然后 is built
The characters
然 rán · certainly
What 然 is made of
- 肰rán — dog meat
- ⺼ — meat
- 犬quǎn — dog
- 大dà — big
- 丶 — dot
- 灬huǒ — fire
Origin hint: 灬 gives the meaning, 肰 gives the sound. (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
后 hòu · behind
What 后 is made of
- 口kǒu — mouth
- 冂 — frame
- 丨 — vertical stroke
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 冂 — frame
Example sentences
我先吃饭,然后去上课。Wǒ xiān chīfàn, ránhòu qù shàngkè.I'll eat first and then go to class.
然后我们去哪儿?Ránhòu wǒmen qù nǎr?Where do we go after that?
Questions about 然后
What does 然后 mean?
然后 (ránhòu) means “then; after that”.
How do you pronounce 然后?
然后 is pronounced ránhòu.
Which HSK level is 然后?
然后 is in HSK 3 (exam 2025) and HSK 2 (2021) and Old HSK 3.
Related words
- 大自然dàzìránnature (the natural world)
- 忽然hūránsuddenly
- 虽然suīránalthough
- 必然bìráninevitable
- 当然dāngránof course
- 果然guǒránsure enough
- 仍然réngránstill
- 突然tūránsuddenly
- 显然xiǎnránobviously
- 自然zìránnature
Learn 然后 with its group
It is part of HSK 2 (2021) · Group 69: a short group with quick checks and spaced repeats.