Usage of “after all”

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After all as a conjunction has a concessive meaning, similar to ‘besides’, or the meaning of ‘one should not forget/ignore the fact that …’.



After all may occur in front, mid or end position in the clause. It is normally separated from the rest of the clause by a comma or commas:

The garage on the main road has been boarded up for some time. It’s been boarded up now for nearly seventeen months. It just seems silly. I mean, after all, it’s unusual to have a petrol station in a fairly quiet residential area.

(front position)

But I stuck at it, pretending to get on and take no notice. Because it was, after all, none of my business.

(mid position)

I don’t mind what you buy. It is your money, after all.

(end position)



The other main use of after all is as an adverb meaning ‘contrary to what was believed or expected’. In this meaning, it occurs almost always in end position, and frequently together with maybe or perhaps. It is not usually separated by a comma in writing:

Maybe she’s not dating him. I mean, maybe they’re just friends after all.

(I thought they were dating. Maybe I was wrong.)

And then at intervals during the interview, I found him … well, er, creepy really and rather worrying, but then again, at the end, I felt as though I’d done him an injustice and that perhaps he was likeable after all.

Jeremy looked genuinely pleased to see her and she wondered if they might become friends after all.