ireland.localmean.com/after-doing
after doing
AF-ter DOO-ing
Local meaning
A construction meaning that an action has just happened or has recently been completed.
Irish English can use a form of be followed by after and a verb ending in -ing to express recent completion. “She’s after leaving” generally means “she has just left,” not that she is pursuing the act of leaving.
Examples in context
- I’m after losing my keys again.
- They’re after closing the road for the match.
How it is used
The construction varies by region and speaker. It is historically connected with parallel structures in Irish.
Neutral grammatical form; urgency or surprise comes from the sentence.
Recent news, mistakes, discoveries, warnings, and everyday updates.
Commonly understood in Ireland; naturalness varies by region, generation, and relationship.
Standard English listeners may misread after as a sequence marker rather than a perfect construction.
Spelling and scope
Contemporary Irish English, with regional and generational variation.
- Search and reference forms
I'm after doingshe's after leavingafter perfect
LocalMean keeps common search spellings discoverable. Regional, historical, and Irish-language forms remain attached to one canonical meaning page rather than being split into duplicate entries.
Common patterns
- I’m after doing
- she’s after leaving
- they were after telling us
Read next
All words →Evidence and further reading
These sources support the vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, or cultural context. The entry remains open to correction from Irish speakers, regional communities, and qualified reviewers.
- On the ‘After Perfect’ in Irish and Hiberno-EnglishUlster University
Peer-reviewed research on the history and Irish-language influence behind the Hiberno-English after-perfect construction.
- After-perfectsYale Grammatical Diversity Project
Accessible grammatical description of be + after + verb-ing and its recent-perfect meaning in Irish English.
- Glossary — The Oxford Handbook of Irish EnglishOxford Academic
Reference glossary covering Irish English terminology and features such as the after perfective and habitual aspect.