What is the difference between のちがいい and あとがいい？

Question

I want to say "Is later okay?" Is there a specific difference between the two terms? A friend of mine routinely uses the first term, I have been using the second term. TY.

Answer 1

If you want to ask "Can I do it later (even though you want me to do it now)?" by "Is later okay?", you need ～でいい?

～がいい and ～でいい are critically different in Japanese.

• What is the difference between それでいい and それがいい here?

～がいい implies it's the ideal first choice, whereas ～でいい implies it's acceptable but not an ideal one.

あとがいい? means "Do you rather want to me to do it later?" (i.e., "You don't want me to do it now, right?")

You can use an optional time marker で after あと. Don't confuse this で with the で described above.

Therefore:

• あとがいい? = あとでがいい? = Do you (rather) want me to do it later?
• あとでいい? = あとででいい? = Can I do it later?

のち is not usually followed by で/が.

Answer 2

If you're trying to say:

Can we do it later?

or

Can this wait until a later date?

You will want to say:

後でいいでしょうか？

This is a polite way to say it, and one of the more agreeable ways to say it too.

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NOTE:

のち uses the same kanji as あと (後). You will want to look up this grammar structure in understanding how it is used.

For the time being, this page should be more than enough for studying use of あとで。 のち is not as common, and beginners should be able to get through most conversations without knowing about it. (It's still important to know and understand though!)

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EDIT:

Withe the help of A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar by Makino and Tsutsui, I came up with the following. (paraphrased in my words)

The most common construction using the のち(に) grammar is as follows:

• Verb(informal)-Past + のち(に)

東京｛とうきょう｝に引｛ひ｝っ越｛こ｝したのち、母｛はは｝がワンちゃんを買｛か｝ったそうだ。

I heard that after I moved to Tokyo, my mother bought a puppy.

Answer 3

I think you can say

後{あと}でもいいですか

which is similar to asking for permission using

Vて も いいですか (Is it okay to V?)

where Vて is a verb in て-form