ever after

Meanings

1. 1adverbnot comparable

   from a particular moment onward, for all the rest of time.

   Grammar: Used at the end of a clause: they lived ever after in peace.

   Patterns

   • live ever after
   • remember something ever after

   After the wedding, the couple lived ever after in a small cottage by the sea.

   He was known as the brave one ever after.

   She never spoke to him again and regretted it ever after.

2. 2phrasefixed phrasefigurative

   the closing words of many fairy tales, as in happily ever after, meaning a future of lasting happiness.

   Grammar: Almost always happily ever after.

   Patterns

   • happily ever after

   The story ends with the prince and princess living happily ever after.

   Real life rarely promises happily ever after.

   Children's stories often finish with the words happily ever after.

Common combinations

happily ever after

They married and lived happily ever after.

and ever after

The loss changed him then and ever after.

live ever after

The villagers lived ever after without fear of the dragon.

happy ever after

The film promises a happy ever after that never quite comes.

remember ever after

The students remembered that storm ever after.

Synonyms and how they differ

forever

Forever stands alone in any position, while ever after must follow a starting point in the story.

thereafter

Thereafter is more formal and neutral, whereas ever after sounds warm and storylike.

from then on

From then on is everyday speech, and ever after sounds more literary.

Opposites

Word family

ever adverb

at any time

forever adverb

for all time

hereafter adverb

from now on, formal

thereafter adverb

from that time on

Commonly confused: ever after or forever after?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “ever after”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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