先週の土曜日
senshū no doyōbi
The phrase for "last Saturday" in Japanese is 先週の土曜日 (senshū no doyōbi).
The phrase refers to the Saturday of the previous week. If it is currently Monday, you can use the informal truncation 先週の土曜 to refer to the Saturday of the previous week.
Which one should you use?
先週の土曜日 is the full, standard way to say the phrase, while 先週の土曜 is a truncated, informal version.
How do you pronounce it?
senshū no doyōbi
Did you know?
- The word 土曜日 literally translates to 'Earth Day'. In Japanese, the days of the week are named after the five classical elements and the two celestial bodies of the sun and moon.
- While English speakers often use 'last Saturday' to mean 'the most recent Saturday', Japanese speakers use 先週の土曜日 strictly to mean 'the Saturday of the previous week'. Using it to refer to a Saturday from a few days ago might confuse a listener.
- In Japanese business culture, referring to a specific day like 土曜日 in a deadline is rare. People often use the term 週明け, meaning 'the start of the week', to avoid confusion about weekend availability.
Examples in context
- 先週の土曜日、公園へ行った。I went to the park last Saturday.This sentence is useful for describing an action that took place at the park using 先週の土曜日.Tatoeba #155480 by bunbuku, translation #259058 by CK
- 先週の土曜日以来ずっと雨です。It's been raining since last Saturday.This sentence is useful for describing continuous rain since 先週の土曜日.Tatoeba #141836 by Kaede, translation #11099624 by CK
- 先週の土曜日は買い物に行ったんだ。I went shopping last Saturday.This sentence is useful for mentioning that you went shopping using 先週の土曜日.Tatoeba #141835 by bunbuku, translation #272735 by CK
- 3 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Misaki and Daito are talking about a movie.
- 美咲 Misaki先週の土曜日に映画を見たよ。Senshū no doyōbi ni eiga o mita yo.I watched a movie last Saturday.
- 大翔 Hirotoへえ、どんな映画だったの？Hee, donna eiga datta no?Oh, what kind of movie was it?
- 美咲 Misakiコメディだったけど、すごく面白かったよ。Komedii datta kedo, sugoku omoshirokatta yo.It was a comedy, but it was really funny.
- 大翔 Hirotoいいな。僕も見たかったな。Ii na. Boku mo mitakatta na.Nice. I wanted to see it too.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
