How to Say "Last Week" in Korean

지난주

jinanju

Last week in Korean is 지난주 (jinanju).

지난주 refers to the week before the current one and is used to say when something happened.

Meaning: week before this one (adv)

What does it mean word for word?

지난주 is a compound of 지난, meaning past or passed and 주, meaning week.

When it tells when an action happened, the time particle 에 is often added, giving 지난주에.

Say it as jinanju.

The character 주 in 지난주 is not a native Korean word but a Middle Chinese loanword.
The component 지난 comes from the verb 지나다, which describes both the passage of time and the act of physically walking past a place.
While 지난주 is the standard term, Koreans frequently use 저번 주 in spoken conversation to emphasize 'the one just before'.

나는 지난주에 그를 봤다.
I saw him last week.
Here 지난주에 with the time particle tells when the speaker saw him.
Tatoeba #11106396 by intertime, translation #259064 by CK
우린 지난주에 호주에 있었어.
We were in Australia last week.
This casual sentence also uses 지난주에 to say when they were in Australia.
Tatoeba #8362175 by Eunhee, translation #7149716 by CK
나는 지난주에 그녀를 보았다.
I just saw her last week.
The particle in 지난주에 again marks the time of the action.
Tatoeba #11110747 by intertime, translation #3910521 by CH
제가 지난 주에 서울에 갔어요.
I went to Seoul last week.
지난 주에 친구들과 영화를 봤어.
I watched a movie with my friends last week.
지난 주 동안 엄청 바빴어.
I was extremely busy throughout last week.
4 more sentences on Tatoeba

Minjun and Minji are talking about a movie.

민준 Min-jun

민지 씨, 지난주에 그 영화 봤어요?
Minji ssi, jinanjue geu yeonghwa bwasseoyo?
Minji, did you see that movie last week?
민지 Min-ji

아니요, 아직 못 봤어요.
Aniyo, ajik mot bwasseoyo.
No, I haven't seen it yet.
민준 Min-jun

정말 재미있으니까 꼭 보세요.
Jeongmal jaemiisseunikka kkok boseyo.
It's really good, so please watch it.
민지 Min-ji

알겠어요. 이번 주말에 볼게요.
Algesseoyo. Ibeon jumare bolgeyo.
I see. I will watch it this weekend.

Sources

⭐Share⭐ to appreciate human effort 🙏