afterwards
af·ter·wards/ˈæf.tɚ.wɚdz/adverb
afterwards is spelled A-F-T-E-R-W-A-R-D-S: 10 letters and 3 syllables (af·ter·wards). It appears 26 times per million words in written English, the 3,479th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “afterward vs afterwards” about 1,000 times a month (Google, United States). As an adverb, afterwards means “At a later or succeeding time; after that” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in afterwards?
| Letters | 10: A-F-T-E-R-W-A-R-D-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: af·ter·wards |
| In writing | 26 times per million words; the 3,479th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is afterwards?
Afterwards appears 26 times per million words in written English, the 3,479th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce afterwards?
- UK /ˈɑːftə.wədz/
- US /ˈæf.tɚ.wɚdz/
Afterwards has 3 syllables, split af·ter·wards in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-afterwards.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with afterwards
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: afterward.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What does afterwards mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
At a later or succeeding time; after that;
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Afterwards in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense at a later or succeeding time:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | après, ultérieurement, ensuite, après coup, par la suite |
| German | später, nachher, danach, hinterher |
| Portuguese | depois, mais tarde, em seguida |
| Spanish | después, consecuentemente, en seguida |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does afterwards come from?
From Middle English afterwardes, from Old English æfteweard (“behind”) + -s (“(adverbial genitive)”). By surface analysis, after + -wards.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).