Meaning of After as a Preposition in English, Also Know Its Usage Examples

Kapanlagi.com - English is an important foreign language to learn. In Indonesia, English has been taught since elementary school. This is what makes some English words sound familiar. Out of many English words, after can be one that we often hear. So, what is the actual meaning of after?

Even though it is considered a familiar foreign word, in fact, many people still do not understand the meaning of after. Moreover, there are still many who often confuse after and before. Even though these two words are clearly different and have opposite meanings. Considering that the word after is often used in daily English conversations, it is important for us to know its meaning and usage.

Summarized from various sources, here is a review of the meaning of after and its usage in English.

1. Meaning of After as a Preposition

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In English, after is one of the common and important words. It is evident that after is frequently used both in text and direct English conversations. To know the easiest meaning of after, it is of course to check it in the dictionary.

According to the Cambridge dictionary.cambridge.org, after belongs to prepositions or conjunctions. More precisely, the meaning of after is a preposition used to connect time, place, and order. If translated into Indonesian, the general meaning of after is 'setelah'. For example:

- She waited until well after midnight. (She waited until after midnight.)

- Her name came after mine on the list. (Her name appeared after mine on the list.)

That is why, prepositions or words after can be used as markers of time or place. However, not only accompanied by time and place markers, in fact after can also be followed by other objects such as people or humans.

2. Meaning of After Besides as a Preposition

In addition to the previous explanation, it turns out that the meaning of after in English is not only applicable as a preposition. After also has another meaning. The word after in a sentence can mean searching for or finding someone or something. For example:

- The police are after him.

- I'm after a tie to go with this shirt.

3. How to Use After as a Preposition

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Based on the previous explanation, the word after in English has two meanings. However, the main use of after in English is still as a preposition. As mentioned earlier, as a preposition, after is used to indicate time, place, and other objects such as humans.

Therefore, to understand the meaning of after as a preposition, we need to know examples of its use. So, let's directly see some examples of using after as a preposition indicating time, place, and object.

1. Examples of Using After as a Preposition Indicating Time

- There's a good film on the day after tomorrow. (There's a good movie the day after tomorrow.)

- Three months after they moved out, the house was still empty. (Three months after they moved, the house was still empty.)

- I'll see you the day after tomorrow. (See you the day after tomorrow.)

2. Examples of Using After as a Preposition Indicating Place

- We ran after him, but he escaped. (We chased him, but he escaped.)

- The children have to learn to tidy up after themselves. (Children have to learn to tidy up after themselves.)

3. Examples of Using After as a Preposition Indicating Order

- Some people believe in life after death. (Some people believe in life after death.)

- Let's go for a walk after breakfast. (Let's go for a walk after breakfast.)

- We've had meeting after meeting to discuss this point. (We've had meeting after meeting to discuss this point.)

- After I have my dinner, I drink a glass of mineral water. (After I have dinner, I drink a glass of mineral water.)

4. Synonyms of After

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Just like words in English or Indonesian, it turns out that the word after also has several synonyms. Therefore, it is important to know the synonyms of after. Here are some words that are synonyms of after:

- Afterwards

- Later

- Back

- Back of

- Behind

- Following

- Succeeding

- Subsequent to

- Post

- Next

- Later on

Those are some explanations about the meaning of after and examples of its use in English. Hopefully, it is useful and can add knowledge related to English.

(kpl/gen/psp)