"她喜欢在喝酒后抽烟。"
Translation:She likes to smoke after drinking alcohol.
29 Comments
"she likes to smoke after having a drink" was rejected but I think it's ok
Again, why can't they fix the bloody system????? How many are they working on it? Is it a one-man show????
I think it just makes the verb progressive, short for 正在. So after drink(ing)(在) alcohol she likes to smoke
31
And also to indicate that she likes smoking specifically after drinking. Otherwise the sentence works fine without it.
I'm thinking that 在 means during. Since it reads 再喝酒后, literally it means: during after drinking, aka after drinking.
I wouldn't take 在 out of the construction 在...后 and try to parse it on its own. See my other comment below.
Does anyone have a clear explanation as to when 在 can be and must be used with time statements as opposed to physical location. I have seen this several times when it did not seem like it was necessary.
The most common structures that use 在 to express before/after/during an action (V) are:
在V前 = 在V之前 = 在V以前 = before V (V can be a verb or a noun)
在V后 = 在V之后 = 在V以后 = after V (V can be a verb or a noun)
在V时 = 在V的时候 = while V (V must be a verb, e.g. 在开会时 = while attending a meeting. To say "during N" where N is a noun, use 在N期间, e.g. 在会议期间)
I'm pretty sure that the full form of these structures (with 在) can be used in all circumstances, so keep 在 if you want to be on the safe side.
But 在 is probably optional. In fact, I am yet to come up with an example where 在 cannot be omitted.
I am just surprised that 在 coexists with 后 in this sentence. Does it add something? Would "她喜欢喝酒后抽烟" have the same meaning?
Sorry, but I believe many people here have overinterpreted 在 here. 在X后 just means "after X," where X is an action or event. It can be shortened to X后, but the full form is also common.
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That's right, they are both common. 在……上 is a different "set" altogether and (usually) has to be used together.
「何々した後で」「何々した上で」It looks like Japanese adopted such structures a long time ago.
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From what I've gathered, and from alanxoc3's comment above, I'm assuming the 在 means "in/during/at". So you can think of 在喝酒后 as meaning "during the time after drinking". I've also seen this construction when a sentence is about the physical location of something. For example, 我的书在桌子上 means "My book is on the table" (literally, it's "my book is at the table's top"). The word describing position (上，下，前，后 etc.) comes after the noun. So, 喝酒后 means "the time after drinking", and 桌子上 means "the top of the table".
This makes sense, thank you. I am often having a hard time splitting a Chinese sentence in parts that are related to this or that preposition.
What I understand is that the backbone is 她喜欢抽烟。The phrase 在喝酒后 (at the time after drinking alcohol) explains/limits the phrase 抽烟。
