after

/æftɚ/3 verbsVowel-initial — links backwards

Pursuing someone, caring for them, or looking like them.

AFTER is a small family but a high-frequency one. Take after (resemble a relative), look after (care for), go after (pursue) and name after all share the idea of following behind something.

All of them are inseparable.

What it does to the sound

AFTER opens on /æ/, the TRAP vowel, and the verb links into it: look after is “loo-kafter”. The middle consonant cluster /ft/ is often reduced so it sounds like “af-ter” with a very light T.

What AFTER means

Resembling — take traits from

Used almost exclusively about family resemblance.

take after

Caring for

You follow someone's needs and attend to them.

look after

Pursuing

You chase something you want.

go afterrun afterchase after

Every verb that takes AFTER

The complete list — 3 of them. The section above groups the common ones by what AFTER is doing.

The particle AFTER — what it does to a verb