后期

• Pinyin: hòu qī
• Hanzi breakdown: 后 — rear; later; 期 = 其 (phonetic) + 月 (moon/month radical) — a period of time measured by the moon

Meaning

Later stage; final phase; post-production. The latter part of a time period, process, or project.

Used across many domains: the later stages of a disease (疾病后期), the post-production phase of a film (电影后期制作), the final phase of a project, or the later part of a historical period. Contrasted with 前期 (early stage) and 中期 (middle stage). In the film industry, 后期 specifically refers to editing, CGI, and sound design.

Examples

1. 这部电影的拍摄工作已经全部完成，目前正处于后期制作阶段，预计明年初与观众见面。 Filming for this movie has been completed, and it’s now in post-production; it’s expected to be released to audiences early next year.
2. 该患者在疾病后期出现了并发症，病情迅速恶化，医院立即启动了紧急救治方案。 In the later stage of the illness, the patient developed complications and the condition deteriorated rapidly, so the hospital immediately activated an emergency treatment plan.
3. 项目后期遭遇了资金短缺的困难，团队不得不压缩部分非核心功能的开发计划。 In the later phase of the project, a funding shortfall hit, and the team had to scale back development plans for some non-core features.

Usage Guide

Context: film, medicine, project management, history

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 团队在项目后期引入了专业的质量管理流程，有效减少了交付阶段出现的缺陷数量，客户满意度显著提升。(In the later stages of the project, the team introduced a professional quality-management process that effectively reduced the number of defects at the delivery stage, significantly improving customer satisfaction.)
• 这位导演的后期剪辑风格极具个人特色，擅长通过节奏的快慢变化来操控观众的情绪起伏。(This director's post-production editing style is highly distinctive — he excels at manipulating the audience's emotional responses through deliberate variations in pacing.)

Don't Say

• 后期 as a direct synonym for 以后 (in the future) or 将来 — 后期 refers to the later phase of something already in progress, not a vague future time; use 今后 or 将来 for general future references

Origin & History

后 (after; latter) + 期 (period; phase) — the phase that comes later

Cultural Context

Era: Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal