How to Say "Day Before Yesterday" in Japanese

一昨日

ototoi[isːa̠kɯ̟ʑit͡sɨ]

一昨日 (ototoi) is the Japanese phrase for "day before yesterday".

一昨日 functions as both a noun meaning "day before yesterday" and as an adverb meaning "on the day before yesterday".

Meaning: day before yesterday – translation entry (noun)

Related words

ototoi

The word 一昨日 can be read in two completely different ways: the native Japanese ototoi and the more formal issakujitsu.
In ancient Japanese, ototoi was formed using the word oto, meaning 'distant' or 'distant past', combined with the word for 'day'.
While 一昨日 refers to the day before yesterday, Japanese also has a specific word for the day after tomorrow: 明後日 read as ashitte.

一昨日成田に着きました。
I arrived at Narita the day before yesterday.
This sentence is useful for using 一昨日 to indicate when an arrival occurred.
Tatoeba #190602 by bunbuku, translation #27762 by CN
一昨日は月曜日だったよ。
The day before yesterday was Monday.
This sentence is useful for using 一昨日 to identify a specific day of the week.
Tatoeba #10470698 by bunbuku, translation #10470695 by CK
一昨日は大変な1日だった。
The day before yesterday was a tough day.
This sentence is useful for using 一昨日 to describe the nature of a past day.
Tatoeba #9697200 by Sim5634, translation #10578274 by CK
昨日は忙しかったです。おとといは休みました。
Yesterday was busy. I rested the day before yesterday.
一昨日の会議は非常に重要でした。
The meeting the day before yesterday was extremely important.
14 more sentences on Tatoeba

Two friends are talking about a movie they saw.

大翔 Hiroto

一昨日にその映画を見たよ。
ototoi ni sono eiga o mita yo.
I saw that movie the day before yesterday.
陽葵 Himari

本当に？面白かった？
hontou ni? omoshirokatta?
Really? Was it interesting?
大翔 Hiroto

すごく面白かったよ、陽葵。
sugoku omoshirokatta yo, Himari.
It was very interesting, Himari.
陽葵 Himari

私も見たかったな。
watashi mo mitakatta na.
I wanted to see it too.

Sources

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