What does afterwards mean?
Word: Afterwards
Part of Speech: Adverb
Meaning: Afterwards means at a time after something else has happened.
How do you spell afterwards?
Syllables: af - ter - wards
Tricky part: The ending is spelt wards, as in towards and backwards, not like the word word. Pupils who spell by sound tend to get this part wrong.
Watch out for: aftrwards, afterwads
Memory tip: It points you along in time, so it ends like towards and backwards, words that point you in a direction.
Afterwards in a sentence
Example 1: We had our exam in the morning and went to the park afterwards.
Example 2: Dad washed the car, and afterwards it rained, much to his surprise.
Example 3: Finish your homework first; you can watch the match afterwards.
Fun Fact
British English keeps the s at the end of this word, while American English often leaves it off, so books printed in the US can look different.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
afterewards
a) e
b) r
c) a
d) w
Show answer
a) e. The first part of this word ends with er, and the next part starts straight after it with w.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
srawdetfra
a) afterwards
b) stairways
c) aftermath
d) afternoon
Show answer
a) afterwards. Aftermath needs an m and an h, afternoon needs n's and o's, and stairways needs an i and a y.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word:
afterwards
a) later
b) beforehand
c) nearby
d) rarely
Show answer
b) beforehand. One word places an event after something, the other places it before.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) meanwile
b) afterwards
c) somtimes
d) yestarday
Show answer
b) afterwards. Yesterday has an e after the t, meanwhile has wh in the middle, and sometimes keeps the e of some.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. 'We ate lunch and played chess afterwards.' When did they play chess?
a) instead of lunch
b) during lunch
c) before lunch
d) after lunch
Show answer
d) after lunch
2. Which word could take the place of afterwards in a sentence?
a) always
b) inside
c) never
d) then
Show answer
d) then
