ieri sera
/ˈjɛ.ri ˈse.ra/word by word
In Italian, 'last night' is ieri sera. Wiktionary also lists notte scorsa and ieri notte.
Meaning: previous evening or night (noun)
Ways to say it
| Italian | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| ieri sera | /ˈjɛ.ri ˈse.ra/ (word by word) | |
| notte scorsa | ||
| ieri notte | /ˈjɛ.ri ˈnɔt.te/ (word by word) | |
| stanotte | /staˈnɔt.te/ | feminine |
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase ieri sera literally means 'yesterday evening', combining ieri (yesterday) and sera (evening). The phrase notte scorsa combines notte (night) and scorsa (past or last).
Which one should you use?
The word stanotte is unique because, in a colloquial context, it can mean both 'tonight' (the upcoming night) and 'last night' (the night that just passed), depending on the sentence.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The word stanotte is a feminine noun. When using the related adverbial forms to mean 'during the night before today', you can use iernotte, ieri notte or iersera.
How do you pronounce it?
The pronunciation of ieri sera is /ˈjɛ.ri ˈse.ra/. It has 4 syllables, with the stress on the 1st syllable.
Did you know?
- The term scorsa in notte scorsa is actually a feminine past participle of the verb scorrere, which means 'to flow' or 'to run through'.
- While English uses 'last night' for any recent night, Italians often switch between ieri sera and ieri notte depending on whether they mean the early evening or the deep night.
Examples in context
- È morto ieri sera.He died last night.This sentence is useful for stating the time of death using ieri sera.Tatoeba #1230626 by Guybrush88, translation #1230629 by CM
- È uscita ieri sera?Did you go out last night?This sentence is useful for asking if someone went out using ieri sera.Tatoeba #2758654 by Guybrush88, translation #16113 by CK
- Chi c'era ieri sera?Who was there last night?This sentence is useful for asking who was present using ieri sera.Tatoeba #5240888 by Guybrush88, translation #3822028 by CK
- Durante l'incontro di ieri sera, abbiamo discusso questioni importanti.During last night's meeting, we discussed important matters.
- Ieri sera sono andato/a a vedere un film fantastico al cinema!Last night, I went to see a fantastic movie at the cinema!
- 498 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Sofia and Alessandro are talking about a movie they saw.
- SofiaTi è piaciuto il film ieri sera?Did you like the movie last night?
- AlessandroSì, era molto bello, Sofia.Yes, it was very beautiful, Sofia.
- SofiaAnche a me è piaciuto molto.I liked it a lot too.
- AlessandroDobbiamo vederne un altro presto.We should see another one soon.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “last night” translations and entries stanotte, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (ieri, sera, notte) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ieri, notte, scorsa, sera, stanotte, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
