經過grammar point · tier 1 · 經過 after passing through (a span of time or a process)
Takes a span of time or a process and presents the whole of it as traversed end-to-end; the result clause states what holds once that span has been passed through in full.
字源 FORM what the parts do
經 is silk (糸) with 巠 jīng for the sound — 巠 is the warp, the long thread strung taut from one end of the loom to the other. 過 is the walking foot (辶) with 咼 guō for the sound, a step carried across. Together they set a single stretch and walk its whole length; what the stretch is — the span of time, the process — sits right after them.
故事 STORY a scene to remember it by
A long thread runs taut from this edge to the far edge. A foot walks its whole length and steps off the far end onto new ground.
字源自撰記憶法
框 · Frame
經過 [a span of time / a process]（之後/以後），[resulting state]
觸 · Trigger
You have a stretch of time or a course of events, and you want the result that holds once the whole of it has been gone through.
序 · The move
1Open with 經過, then name the span: a length of time or a process.Is what follows a stretch you go through, not a single moment?
2Close the span with 之後 or 以後 when the result lands strictly after it.Does the whole span have to finish before the result holds?
3State the resulting state in the main clause.Is this what stands on the far side of the span, the outcome of going through it?
例 · Examples
1經過after passing through一段時間a stretch of time之後after (closing the span)，他he已經already可以can / is able to適應adapt to研究所graduate institute的attributive生活life了change of state — now can。
After a stretch of time had passed, he could already adjust to graduate-school life.
以後 marks a single point and puts the result past it; 經過 consumes a whole stretch and puts the result on the far end of it. 以後 needs no passage through anything; 經過 says the span was lived through in full.
通過 passes through a channel and often names a means (passed by way of …); 經過 sets out a span of time or events and lands a result after the whole of it.
✗ 經過昨天，他適應了 → ✓ 經過一段時間，他適應了 (經過 takes a stretch to go through, not a single point — use 昨天以後 for a point)
✗ 他經過了研究所的生活 → ✓ 經過一段時間，他適應了研究所的生活 (經過 opens the span clause; it does not take the result as its own object)
✗ 一段時間經過之後 → ✓ 經過一段時間之後 (經過 leads the span, it does not trail it)
English 'after' takes either a point or a span with one word, so learners reach for 以後 everywhere; 經過 is the one that insists the span was traversed in full, and it leads its span rather than trailing it the way 'after' trails its clause.