～あと/あとで/あとに/あとは

はなが（ A ）あと （ B ）みが なります。
For ( A ): a.さいた b.さいて c.さき d.さく
For ( B ): a.、(a comma) b.で c.に d.は

The intended meaning is: “After it blooms, it bears a fruit” and the correct answer for A is a.さいた. The most important thing to remember with 後（あと） is, the verb directly before 後（あと) has to be in the past plain form even if you are talking about a future event.

For B, all 4 answers are correct but the meanings are slightly different from one another.

～あと、 and ～あとで

a.花はなが咲さいた後あと、実みがなります。and
b.花はなが咲さいた後あとで実みがなります。
are about the same. 後あと、 and 後あとで are more about the order of events, so they are merely saying はながさく occurs first and みがなる occurs sometime after that.

～あとに

c. 花はなが咲さいた後あとに実みがなります is quite different. If に is used after 後あと, that shows either of the following 2:

1. not only describes the order of events but also it suggests there is a “cause and effect” relationship between them. In this example, はながさく is the cause of みがなる.
   or
2. the second action occurs almost immediately after the first. There is no other event happening between the 2 mentioned.

父ちちが出でかけた後あとに兄あにが帰かえってきた。
My brother came home immediately after my father went out.

夕食ゆうしょくを食たべた後あとにこの薬くすりをのんでください。
Take this medicine after you eat dinner. (In this case, it would be OK to have a short break between the last bite and taking the medicine, but you should take the medicine before you start doing something else like washing up or watching TV.)

～あとは

d.花はなが咲さいた後あとは実みがなります。
The は in 後あとは is used to emphasize 花はなが咲さいた後あと, so it’s more like “What happens after it blooms is that it bears fruit.”

は is a topic marker, so you can think “after flower opens” is the topic.

Quizzes

Reading the explanation above, can you tell the nuance difference between the following pairs?

A: 刺身さしみを食たべた後あとで気分きぶんが悪わるくなりました。
B: 刺身さしみを食たべた後あとに気分きぶんが悪わるくなりました。
Both are saying “I started to feel ill after eating sashimi” but while A is just describing the timing, B implies that I suspect sashimi was the cause of feeling ill.

C: 母ははが寝ねた後あとで父ちちが帰かえってきた。
D: 母ははが寝ねた後あとに父ちちが帰かえってきた。
Again, both are saying, “Mum went to bed and then Dad came home,” but while C is just describing the order of events, D sounds like there is something more to tell like “Mum missed out something” or “Dad had avoided seeing Mum” or something like that…

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