You use after, afterwards, and later to talk about things that happen following the time when you are speaking, or following a particular event. You can use later to refer to a time or situation that follows the time when you are speaking. I'll go and see her later. 'A little', 'much', and 'not much' can also be used with later. A little later, the lights went out... I learned all this much later. Expressions such as 'not long' and 'shortly' can also be used with after. After dinner she spoke to him... I returned to England after visiting India... Shortly after, she called me. Afterwards can be used when you do not need to mention the particular time or event. Afterwards we went to a night club. You can also use words such as 'soon' and 'shortly' with afterwards. Soon afterwards, he came to the clinic. You can use after, afterwards, or later following a phrase that mentions a period of time, in order to say when something happens. ...five years after his death... She wrote about it six years afterwards... Ten minutes later he left the house.

after，afterwards和later均用于指说话时间之后或某事之后发生的事情。later可用于指说话当时之后的时间或情况：I'll go and see her later（我晚些时候会去看她）。a little，much和not much也可与later连用，例如，A little later, the lights went out（片刻后，灯灭了），I learned all this much later（很久以后我才得知这一切）。after可与not long和shortly等连用，例如，After dinner she spoke to him（晚饭后她跟他谈了话），I returned to England after visiting India（印度之行结束后我返回英格兰），Shortly after, she called me（过后不久，她便给我打了电话）。无须提及具体时间或事件时可用afterwards：Afterwards we went to a night club（后来我们去了一家夜总会）。afterwards也可与soon，shortly等连用，例如，Soon afterwards, he came to the clinic（不久之后，他来到诊所）。after，afterwards或later均可用于表示一段时间的短语之后，以说明某事发生的时间。例如，five years after his death（他死后5年），She wrote about it six years afterwards（6年后她撰文提及此事），Ten minutes later he left the house（10分钟后他离开了屋子）。