after that

[*^^*]

The books says the following sentence is correct:

"This I did at nine o'clock, after which I sat reading the paper."

Why can't I say?

"This I did at nine o'clock, after that I sat reading the paper."

[BobK]

The books says the following sentence is correct:

"This I did at nine o'clock, after which I sat reading the paper."

Why can't I say?

"This I did at nine o'clock, after that I sat reading the paper."

You can, and some teachers would prefer it.- though it would need to be punctuated to avoid the comma-splice; or just add 'and' after the comma.

b