어젯밤
eojetbam[ʌ̹d͡ʑe̞t̚p͈a̠m]
The English phrase 'last night' is translated into Korean as 어젯밤 (eojetbam). Wiktionary also lists 지난밤 (jinanbam).
Meaning: previous evening or night (noun)
Ways to say it
| Korean | Romanization (Wiktionary) | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| 어젯밤 | eojetbam | [ʌ̹d͡ʑe̞t̚p͈a̠m] (SK Standard, Seoul, narrow) [ʌ̹d͡ʑe̞p͈a̠m] (SK Standard, Seoul, narrow) |
| 지난밤 | jinanbam | [t͡ɕina̠nba̠m] (SK Standard, Seoul, narrow) |
Both 어젯밤 and 지난밤 are used to refer to the previous evening or night. Additionally, the forms 어젯밤 and 어제저녁 can function as adverbs meaning 'during the night before today'.
What does it mean word for word?
The word 어젯밤 is a compound of 어제, meaning 'yesterday' and 밤, meaning 'night'.
Which one should you use?
어젯밤 refers specifically to the night or the late hours, whereas 어제저녁 refers to yesterday evening or dinner time. Additionally, 지난밤 is a slightly more formal or literary version of the more common conversational term 어젯밤.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
When you want to specify that an action occurred during last night, the time particle –에 is often added to the noun, resulting in 어젯밤에.
How do you pronounce it?
eojetbam
Did you know?
- The word 밤 for 'night' is a homonym for the Korean word for 'chestnut', though the meaning is clear from the context of 'last night'.
- In Middle Korean, 어젯밤 was written with special dots called 'bangjeom' to indicate the tone of the syllables, a feature that has since disappeared from the language.
- Even though 어젯밤 and 지난밤 look similar, using 지난밤 in a casual conversation with friends might make you sound like a character from a historical drama.
Examples in context
- 지난밤에 편지 하나를 썼다.I wrote a letter last night.This sentence shows how to use 지난밤 to state that a letter was written.Tatoeba #11106492 by intertime, translation #257850 by CK
- 나는 지난밤에 톰을 만났다.I met Tom last night.This sentence demonstrates using 지난밤 when describing meeting someone.Tatoeba #11110683 by intertime, translation #2387142 by CK
- 나 어젯밤 이상한 꿈을 꿨어.I had a weird dream last night.This sentence shows how to use 어젯밤 when talking about a dream.Tatoeba #8363639 by Eunhee, translation #2045360 by CK
- 어제 밤에 친구들과 놀았어.I hung out with friends last night.
- 12 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about a storm that happened during the night.
- 서연 Seo-yeon어젯밤에 비가 정말 많이 왔어.eojetbam-e bi-ga jeong-mal ma-ni wat-eo.It rained a lot last night.
- 지훈 Ji-hun정말? 나 어젯밤에는 계속 잤어.jeong-mal? na eojetbam-e-neun gye-sok jat-eo.Really? I slept through the whole last night.
- 서연 Seo-yeon지훈아, 너는 비 소리를 못 들었구나.Ji-hun-a, neo-neun bi so-ri-reul mot deu-reot-gu-na.Jihoon, you must not have heard the sound of the rain.
- 지훈 Ji-hun응, 아주 깊게 잠들었나 봐.eung, a-ju gip-ge jam-deul-eot-na bwa.Yeah, I guess I fell into a very deep sleep.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “last night” translations and entries 어젯밤, 지난밤, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 어젯밤, 지난밤, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
