Afterwards means “later” or “after that”. It refers to what happened after an event that has already been mentioned, and it stands on its own, with no noun after it: at the start of a new sentence or at the end. In an essay it sounds neutral, and it is handy for describing a process in IELTS Writing Task 1: The leaves are dried. Afterwards, they are crushed.
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Afterwards, + sentence; clause + afterwards; soon/shortly afterwards; after + noun/-ing/clause
- We had a short meeting in the morning, and afterwards everyone went back to their desks.
- The concert finished at eleven. Afterwards, we walked along the river to the station.
- He moved to Berlin in 2019 and found a job there soon afterwards.
What changed
First versionThe lecture ended at six. After, we went to a café near the university.
RevisionThe lecture ended at six. Afterwards, we went to a café near the university.
After and afterwards both point to a later time, so after sometimes ends up on its own at the start of a sentence. But in English after usually needs something to follow it: after the lecture, after we left. A standalone “later” at the start of a sentence is afterwards, so After was replaced with Afterwards.
You can also say “after that” with after, but only together with that: After that, we went home. In American English the word is often spelt without the final s: afterward. Both forms are correct, but it is better to stick to one of them within a text.
Your turn
___ we handed in the project, the manager took the whole team out for dinner.
Show the answer
After — After the gap comes a whole clause with its own subject and verb: we handed in the project. Only After can link it to the rest of the sentence. Afterwards doesn't attach anything to itself, and with it you would get two sentences stuck together with a comma.
Describe how your Saturday or Sunday went. Name two events and link them with afterwards.
On Saturday I helped my brother move into his new flat, and afterwards we had pizza on the floor among the boxes.
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