# Potom / poté



## JerseyMark

Hello there! I'm new here, although have read here a number of times in the past. Learning Czech, am South African and speak Afrikaans, German and English so far (and some level of Czech, I guess)

I am wondering and cannot seem to find an answer... is there a difference between potom and poté ?
'Pak' would be perhaps less formal?

Basically I hear potom a lot, and I hear poté much more seldomly. po-tom seems to refer more to masculine/neutral and po-té to feminine, but... that does not seem to be the solution either, as they are both used more-or-less independently of the gender of anything.

Thanks for any help!


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## bibax

*potom* < po tom = after it, neuter gender;
*poté* < po té (události) = after that (event), událost is feminine;

IMO poté is more bookish than potom.

*potom, poté, nato, pak, následně*
after that, thereafter, afterwards, then, subsequently, ensuingly

Došlo k výbuchu plynu a *poté/potom/pak/následně* k požáru.


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## JerseyMark

Thanks! So, I have it right that even speaking about a výbuch (masculine), you can then say poté (which would point more towards something feminine) and it would be correct?


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## bibax

No, událost (event) is feminine, you can fill all the missing words in:

*Došlo k *tomu* výbuchu *toho* plynu a po té*to události* k *tomu* požáru.
*
_... and after this/that event to the conflagration._

výbuch, plyn, požár ... masculine
událost ... feminine


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## Enquiring Mind

Hoe gaan dit met jou, JerseyMark? Welcome to the forum.
*
Potom* and *poté*, when run together as one word meaning "then" or "afterwards", are adverbs or conjunctive adverbs. The "po" has lost its grammatical function as a preposition, it doesn't refer to any noun, so gender is not an issue in the use of potom or poté as a one-word adverb or conjunctive adverb. I agree with bibax that *poté* is, arguably, a little "higher style" than *potom*, but there's not much difference between them. Interestingly, in example (1) below, they use "poté" in the headline and "potom" in the text (so not much difference  ).

(1) _Násilník zbil muže na zastávce a *poté* tropil výtržnosti v baru _(source: idnes.cz) [headline]
_Do problémů se zákonem se dostal útočník ze Sokolova, který zbil muže čekajícího na autobusové zastávce a *potom* tropil výtržnosti v baru._ (Source: idnes.cz)[body of the article]
....... who hit a man waiting at a bus stop and then caused trouble in a bar.

_Využily opilosti muže a *poté* ho okradly _(source: policie.cz)
[Two women]... took advantage of the fact that the man was drunk and then robbed him.

When "po" is being used as a preposition to mean "after", it is separated from the article (ten, ta, to) (masculine:* po tom*;  feminine: *po té*; neuter: *po tom*) and will almost always be followed by the noun or adjective it refers to, and the noun and/or adjective will have to be in the sixth case (locative), so:

*Návrat* (masculine): *po tom návratu *(all agreeing in sixth case, masculine)

*Kolo *(neuter): _Stejně jako *po kole prvním*, i *po tom druhém* je ve vedení turnaje (...) golfista Andy Sullivan_ (source: golfchannel.cz)
Just like after the first round, after the second one too ...
*po kole prvním*, i *po tom druhém [kole] *(all agreeing in sixth case, neuter)

*Pauza *(feminine)_ Když jsem někdy v devadesátém roce přijela do Pekingu *po té dlouhé pauze* a jela z letiště do města, tak jsem nechtěla věřit, že jsem v Číně._ (source: preszed.cz)
.... after that long interval/break ....
*po té dlouhé pauze* (all agreeing in sixth case, feminine)

[Sorry about all the crime reports, it's very nice here, really .]


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## JerseyMark

Thank you all! I did realise and understand that "potom" and "poté" are not the same as "po tom" and "po té", I simply wanted to clarify my thinking. Thanks for all the helpful replies! I feel settled in this now!
More questions soon! I like learning Czech, but barely have anyone I can really ask that would be able to give authoritative answers.


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## Enquiring Mind

V pohodě, od toho jsme tady! No prob, that's what we're here for!


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