Chinese word

昨天

Pronunciation

Pinyinzuó tiān

Meaning

  • adverbyesterday

Example

你昨天看了什么？nǐ zuó tiān kàn le shén me

What did you see yesterday?

Illustration for 昨天 (yesterday)

More examples

我昨天吃了晚饭。wǒ zuó tiān chī le wǎn fàn

I ate dinner yesterday.

Core concept

The entire day that comes immediately before today.

Common phrases

  • 昨天晚上zuó tiān wǎn shàng

    yesterday evening

  • 昨天早上zuó tiān zǎo shàng

    yesterday morning

  • 昨天下午zuó tiān xià wǔ

    yesterday afternoon

Similar words

今天jīn tiān: Means the whole day that is today.
明天míng tiān: Means the whole day that comes immediately after today.
前天qián tiān: Means the whole day that came two days before today.

Definition in Chinese

相对于说话当日的前一天，常用于描述或询问发生在那一整天（前一天）内的事情，并可与具体时间点或动词连用。xiāng duì yú shuō huà dāng rì de qián yì tiān cháng yòng yú miáo shù huò xún wèn fā shēng zài nà yì zhěng tiān qián yì tiān nèi de shì qíng bìng kě yǔ jù tǐ shí jiān diǎn huò dòng cí lián yòng

Word origin

The compound 昨 (zuó, "previous") + 天 (tiān, "day") names the previous day as one complete day.

Usage tips

  • A time word like this commonly comes before the subject and verb in a Chinese sentence, while English often places the same information at the end.

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word