How to Say “In the future” in Chinese
Time and dates · HSK 3
"In the future" in Chinese is 以后 (yǐ hòu). 以后 is the everyday word for 'in the future' or 'from now on'; flexible, covers anything from 'next week' to 'the rest of your life'. 将来 is more formal and specifically points to the distant future, common in essays, speeches, and when parents lecture kids about their 将来 (career/life plans).
Primary translation
以后
yǐ hòu
Traditional: 以後
Variants by register
Formal
将来
jiāng lái
Casual
以后
yǐ hòu
When to use it
以后 is the everyday word for 'in the future' or 'from now on'; flexible, covers anything from 'next week' to 'the rest of your life'. 将来 is more formal and specifically points to the distant future, common in essays, speeches, and when parents lecture kids about their 将来 (career/life plans). A very natural pattern: place 以后 at the start of a sentence for 'from now on I will...' (以后我再也不...). Don't confuse 以后 with 后来; 后来 means 'afterwards' about a past event only.
Example sentences
以后你想做什么工作？
Yǐ hòu nǐ xiǎng zuò shén me gōng zuò?
What kind of job do you want to do in the future?
我将来想当医生。
Wǒ jiāng lái xiǎng dāng yī shēng.
I want to be a doctor in the future.
以后我再也不熬夜了。
Yǐ hòu wǒ zài yě bù áo yè le.
From now on I'm never staying up late again.