"⋯⋯, 后来⋯⋯" (..., hòulái...) is used to sequence past events in the same way that "Afterward..." is in English. Something very important to note is that 后来 can only be used with two events that have already occurred.

他说要跟我们一起去，后来又说不去了。 Tā shuō yào gēn wǒmen yīqǐ qù, hòulái yòu shuō bù qù le.He said he would come with us, but suddenly he told us that he's not going.
这是一个很有名的小说，后来拍成了电影。Zhè shì yī gè hěn yǒumíng de xiǎoshuō, hòulái pāi chéng le diànyǐng.It's a famous novel, which was made into a movie afterwards.
我小时候很喜欢弹钢琴，后来学习太忙，就不弹了。Wǒ xiǎoshíhou hěn xǐhuan tán gāngqín, hòulái xuéxí tài máng, jiù bù tán le.I like to play piano. But school's been too busy and then I stopped.
我昨天修好了，后来又坏了。 Wǒ zuótiān xiūhǎo le, hòulái yòu huài le.I fixed it yesterday, but it was broken again after that.
开始他不同意，后来他同意了。 Kāishǐ tā bù tóngyì, hòulái tā tóngyì le.At first he didn't agree, but then he did later.
他们在一起差不多三年，不过后来分手了。Tāmen zài yīqǐ chàbuduō sān nián, bùguò hòulái fēnshǒu le.They had been together for about three years. But they broke up afterwards.
昨天我们一起吃了海鲜，后来她拉肚子了。Zuótiān wǒmen yīqǐ chī le hǎixiān, hòulái tā lādùzi le.She ate seafood yesterday, but then she had a diarrhea.
他在这个公司工作了五年，后来跳槽了。Tā zài zhège gōngsī gōngzuò le wǔ nián, hòulái tiàocáo le.He worked in this company for five years, but then he made a job-hopping.
我妹妹的手机丢了，后来我给她买了一个新的。 Wǒ mèimei de shǒujī diū le, hòulái wǒ gěi tā mǎi le yī gè xīn de.My little sister lost her cell phone. Afterwards, I bought a new one for her.
北京以前叫北平，后来改成了北京。 Běijīng yǐqián jiào běipíng, hòulái gǎi chéng le Běijīng. Beijing used to be called Beiping and got changed into Beijing later.

Structure

Examples

See also

Sources and further reading

Books