後
| Property |
Value |
| Meaning |
after, behind |
| Strokes |
9 |
| JLPT Level |
N5 |
| On-reading (音読み) |
ゴ、コウ |
| Kun-reading (訓読み) |
あと、うし-ろ、のち |
| Radical |
彳 (ぎょうにんべん - step/go) |
Stroke Order
The kanji 後 is written in 9 strokes. Follow the standard rule of top-to-bottom, left-to-right:
- Stroke 1: The short top-left dash (彳).
- Stroke 2: The middle-left dash (彳).
- Stroke 3: The vertical line (彳).
- Stroke 4: The top horizontal line of the right component.
- Stroke 5: The vertical line on the right.
- Stroke 6: The horizontal line crossing the vertical.
- Stroke 7: The top-right dot/dash.
- Stroke 8: The horizontal line below the dot.
- Stroke 9: The sweeping stroke at the bottom.
Radical Analysis
The radical is 彳 (ぎょうにんべん - gyōninben), which represents a "step" or "movement." It is a variant of the radical for "person" (人). The right side (冬) acts as a phonetic indicator but also carries the meaning of "winter" or "end." Together, the kanji depicts someone walking behind others, or the "end" of a sequence (after).
Mnemonic
Imagine a person walking (彳) through the cold of winter (冬). Because they are walking slowly in the snow, they end up falling behind everyone else. Thus, they are "after" the group, or "behind" them.
On-readings (音読み) with Examples
ゴ (Go)
| Word |
Reading |
Romaji |
English |
| 午後 |
ごご |
gogo |
afternoon |
| 後半 |
こうはん |
kōhan |
second half |
| 最後 |
さいご |
saigo |
last/end |
コウ (Kō)
| Word |
Reading |
Romaji |
English |
| 今後 |
こんご |
kongo |
from now on |
| 後退 |
こうたい |
kōtai |
retreat/pull back |
| 前後 |
ぜんご |
zengo |
front and back |
Kun-readings (訓読み) with Examples
あと (Ato)
| Word |
Reading |
Romaji |
English |
| あとで |
あとで |
ato de |
later |
| あとがき |
あとがき |
atogaki |
postscript |
うし-ろ (Ushi-ro)
| Word |
Reading |
Romaji |
English |
| 後ろ |
うしろ |
ushiro |
behind/back |
| 後ろ姿 |
うしろすがた |
ushirosugata |
figure seen from behind |
のち (Nochi)
| Word |
Reading |
Romaji |
English |
| 後日 |
ごじつ |
gojitsu |
a later date |
| 後ほど |
のちほど |
nochi hodo |
later (polite) |
JLPT N5 Words Using 後
| Word |
Reading |
Romaji |
English |
JLPT |
| 午後 |
ごご |
gogo |
afternoon |
N5 |
| 後ろ |
うしろ |
ushiro |
behind |
N5 |
| 後で |
あとで |
ato de |
later |
N5 |
| 最後 |
さいご |
saigo |
last |
N4 |
| 今後 |
こんご |
kongo |
from now on |
N4 |
| 前後 |
ぜんご |
zengo |
front and back |
N4 |
| 後半 |
こうはん |
kōhan |
second half |
N3 |
| 後日 |
ごじつ |
gojitsu |
later date |
N3 |
| 背後 |
はいご |
haigo |
background/behind |
N2 |
| 事後 |
じご |
jigo |
after the fact |
N2 |
Example Sentences
| Japanese |
Reading |
Romaji |
English |
| 午後三時に会いましょう。 |
ごごさんじにあいましょう。 |
Gogo san-ji ni aimashō. |
Let's meet at 3:00 PM. |
| 誰かが後ろにいます。 |
だれかがうしろにいます。 |
Dareka ga ushiro ni imasu. |
Someone is behind me. |
| 後で電話します。 |
あとででんわします。 |
Ato de denwa shimasu. |
I will call you later. |
| 映画の後半は面白かったです。 |
えいがのこうはんは おもしろかったです。 |
Eiga no kōhan wa omoshirokatta desu. |
The second half of the movie was interesting. |
| 今後ともよろしくお願いします。 |
こんごともよろしくおねがいします。 |
Kongo tomo yoroshiku onegaishimasu. |
I look forward to your continued support. |
| 彼は最後に来ました。 |
かれはさいごにきました。 |
Kare wa saigo ni kimashita. |
He came last. |
Common Confusion Pairs
| Kanji |
Reading |
Meaning |
How to distinguish |
| 後 |
ゴ / あと |
After/Behind |
Has the "step" radical (彳) on the left. |
| 待 |
タイ / ま(つ) |
To wait |
Has the same radical (彳) but the right side is 寺 (temple). |
Usage Frequency Note
後 is an extremely high-frequency kanji. It is essential for daily communication, appearing in everything from telling time (午後) to giving directions (後ろ) and discussing schedules (後で). It is used equally in formal writing and casual speech.