末（に）after much …; in the end
After a long road, this is where it ended. 末（に） follows much thought, long talks or try after try, and then gives the outcome, often a hard-won good one.
After talking it over with my family many times, I decided to move away from the city.
after a noun
After a three-month investigation, the cause turned out to be a part that had deteriorated.
How to form it
Verb in the た-form + 末（に） ／ Noun + の + 末（に）
考えた末に, 話し合いの末に. The に often drops in writing. Before a noun it is 末の: 検討の末の決定.
- Before it
- Something long or hard, often with いろいろ or 何度も: 考えた, 悩んだ, 迷った, 話し合った. Or a noun: 交渉, 議論, 苦労, 努力.
- After it
- How it ended: a decision, a result, a finding.
- Tone
- Neutral. No complaint in it.
- Where you'll meet it
- News, reports and stories, and people explaining how they reached a decision. A little formal for chat.
In use
After revising the design again and again, they completed a very safe plan.
After six months of negotiations, the two companies agreed not to renew the contract.
Neither good news nor bad: it is where the talks came out.
After a close game, Japan won by one point.
A loss is told the same way: 接戦の末、敗れた.
Three things to know
It needs a long road
English "after" fits any two steps. 末に needs time, effort or a struggle behind it.
Not said: 昼ご飯を
(After eating lunch, I went back to the office.)
食べてから.
末 or あげく?
Both come after a long process. 末 reports where it ended, with no complaint in it, and the ending is often good. あげく says it ended badly, or in something you regret.
After a lot of thought, I decided to quit my job.
Thought through, and settled.
After all that agonizing, I decided to quit my job.
All that thinking, and it came to this. Not a happy ending.
After a date it is just "the end"
三月の末に引っ越す is "I'm moving at the end of March".
Close neighbours
あげく（に）N2
The same long road, ending badly or in something you regret.
After dithering for ages, I went home that day without buying anything.
上でN2
A step you take first, so it fits requests and plans. 末に looks back at how things turned out.
Please think it over carefully and then give us your answer.
Check yourself
1Which one fits?
長い
Choose an answer to see why.
2Which sentence sounds natural?
Choose an answer to see why.
More sentences
After ten years of research, they succeeded in developing a new drug.
After much hard training, she was chosen for the national team.
After repeated trial and error, they arrived at a new manufacturing method.
The committee chair formally announced the decision reached after lengthy deliberations.
After lengthy discussions, it was decided not to go for an agreement this time.