然后
ránhòu
Lift your foot off this square and set it on the next
The picture Footprint squares painted on the floor: one stepped on, then the foot lifted and placed on the next. 然后 sets the foot on the next square in time; 于是 is pushed onto it by what came before.
Where the picture shows up in 然后
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Walking someone through the order
先填表，然后到三号窗口交。
xiān tián biǎo, ránhòu dào sān hào chuāngkǒu jiāo
Fill in the form first, then hand it in at window three.
a pen pointing at the paper, then the same hand turning to the window marked 3
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先…然后再 fixing the order
我们先吃饭，然后再去看电影。
wǒmen xiān chīfàn, ránhòu zài qù kàn diànyǐng
Let's eat first, then go see the film after.
a finger at the restaurant door, then moving on to the cinema sign across the street
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Straight into the next act (就)
他看了我一眼，然后就走了。
tā kàn le wǒ yì yǎn, ránhòu jiù zǒu le
He looked at me once, then just left.
eyes meeting for a second, then a back turning and going out the door
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Listing what you did, in order
我先给他打了电话，然后又发了短信。
wǒ xiān gěi tā dǎ le diànhuà, ránhòu yòu fā le duǎnxìn
I called him first, then I sent a text as well.
a call log on screen with a sent message appearing on the line right below it
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Asking for the next part
然后呢？你们怎么处理的？
ránhòu ne? nǐmen zěnme chǔlǐ de?
And then? How did you deal with it?
a listener leaning forward and opening an upturned palm
All of it in one picture
然后 is the foot moving on. Fill in the form, then hand it in at window three; eat first, then go to the film. One glance and straight out the door, a call and then a text as well, and the listener's 'and then?' in the middle of a story — all the same single step.