Ways to say it
| Cantonese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 之後 / 之后 | zi¹ hau⁶ |
| 遲過 / 迟过 | ci⁴ gwo³ |
The term 'later' in Cantonese changes based on whether you are describing a sequence of events, comparing two times or speaking informally. 之後 / 之后 is used to mean 'afterward in time'. If you wish to say 'later' in the sense of 'in a while' or 'in a moment' during casual conversation, you might use 等陣.
Which one should you use?
The forms are used to distinguish between different types of 'later'. Use 之後 / 之后 to mean 'afterward' or 'after a certain time' in a sequence. If you are comparing two specific points in time to say one is 'later than' the other, use 遲過 / 迟过. For the sense of 'a little later' or delaying an action, use the related form 遲啲 / 迟啲.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
之後 / 之后 can be placed directly after a verb or a noun phrase to mean 'after [doing something/an event]'.
How do you pronounce it?
zi¹ hau⁶
Did you know?
- In casual conversation, if someone tells you 等陣 ('later'), it may be a polite way of avoiding a request. Depending on the tone, it can function as a soft 'no' rather than a specific promise of time.
- In Cantonese, the concept of being 'late' is linguistically linked to being 'slow'. The root 遲 used in 遲過 is the same one used to describe a person who walks or works at a slow pace.
- While 之後 means 'later', its first character 之 was originally a pronoun in classical Chinese. In modern Cantonese, it has evolved into a versatile particle that often acts like a grammatical glue.
Examples in context
- 請問有冇可能事後再聯絡？Is it possible to contact me later?
- 我而家忙緊，等陣先同你講啦！I'm currently busy, I'll talk to you later!
- 我食完飯之後去 / 我吃完饭之后去I will go after eating.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “later” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
