Come after means to follow something in order or in time; the second meaning is to chase someone in order to catch or punish them. The first sense is neutral: letters, chapters, courses, events. The second sounds threatening: people use it about the police, debt collectors or revenge.
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A comes after B (order, time); come after + person (chase, punish)
- In British dates, the month comes after the day: 3 May, not May 3.
- Dessert comes after the main course, so please don't open the cake yet.
- He knew the bank would come after him if he stopped paying the loan.
What changed
First versionDon't worry, I'll come after you at seven and we'll walk to the cinema together.
RevisionDon't worry, I'll come and get you at seven and we'll walk to the cinema together.
When you offer to call for a friend, come after can seem to mean “come for”. But come after someone means to chase them: it's the language of a pursuit, not a friendly meeting. When you call for someone so you can go somewhere together, you say come and get you, or pick you up if you're driving.
When you lead someone, for example to show the way, the verb is follow: Follow me, the office is upstairs. In everyday speech, come after describes order (B comes after A) or a chase, not a polite “come with me”.
Your turn
In the test, the listening section ___ the reading section, so do the reading first.
Show the answer
comes after — Reading first, then listening: it's about the order of the sections, so comes after. Comes across means to find something by chance or to give an impression, and it doesn't describe order.
Describe the order of things on a normal work or study day. Name two activities and say which one comes after the other.
On weekdays, my English lesson comes after lunch, so I review my notes on the bus back to the office.
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