Afteras a preposition and conjunction
Aftermeans ‘later than’ and ‘next in time or place’.
Aftercanbe used before a noun phrase (as a preposition):
Shall we have a swimafterlunch?
The bank is justafterthe park, on the left.
Aftercan introduce a clause (as a conjunction):
AfterI left him a message, he phoned me immediately.
She did voluntary work in a hospitalaftershe graduated.
We use the present simple followingafterwhen referring to the future:
I’ll contact youafterwe reach the airport.
See also:
Conjunctions
Afterorafterwardsas an adverb
We can useafteras an adverb, butafterwardsis more common. Whenafteris used, it is usually as part of an adverb phrase:
They lived happilyever after.(means ‘for ever’)
She had an operation on her leg andafterwardswas unable to walk for at least a month.
See also:
Before
Finally,at last,lastlyorin the end?
After: typical error
Whenafterrefers to future time, we use the present simple, not the future withshallorwill:
I’ll do another course after Ifinishthis one.
Not: …after I will finish…