琴日
kam⁴ jat⁶
The English word "yesterday" is translated into Cantonese as 琴日 (kam⁴ jat⁶). Wiktionary also lists 尋日 / 寻日 (cam⁴ jat⁶) and 昨日 (zok³ jat⁶).
Meaning: day before today (noun)
Ways to say it
| Cantonese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 琴日 | kam⁴ jat⁶ |
| 尋日 / 寻日 | cam⁴ jat⁶ |
| 昨日 | zok³ jat⁶ |
The terms for "yesterday" can function as both a noun (the day before today) and an adverb (on the day before today).
Which one should you use?
琴日 is the most common way to say "yesterday" in everyday spoken Cantonese. Its synonym 尋日 / 寻日 is also used frequently in spoken Cantonese. In contrast, 昨日 is a more formal or literary term, often found in written texts or news reporting.
Related words
How do you pronounce it?
kam⁴ jat⁶
Did you know?
- The spoken word 琴日 is a homophone for the word meaning 'zither' or 'piano' followed by 'day'. Because they sound identical, the character for 'zither' 琴 replaced the original character for 'search' 尋 in casual writing.
- The character 尋 in 尋日 originally meant 'to seek' or 'to search', implying that 'yesterday' is the day one looks back to find a starting point.
- In Cantonese, the concept of 'the day before yesterday' is expressed as 前日, which literally translates to 'front day'.
Examples in context
Example conversation
A young man and woman are chatting about their weekend plans at a cafe.
- 子健 Tsz Kin琴日你去咗邊度玩？kam4 jat6 nei5 heoi3 zo2 bin1 dou6 waan2?Where did you go yesterday?
- 曉彤 Hiu Tung我琴日去咗睇戲。ngo5 kam4 jat6 heoi3 zo2 tai2 hei3.I went to see a movie yesterday.
- 子健 Tsz Kin好呀，嗰套戲好睇嗎？hou2 aa3, go2 tou3 hei3 hou2 tai2 maa1?Nice, was that movie good?
- 曉彤 Hiu Tung好睇，我好鍾意。hou2 tai2, ngo5 hou2 zung1 ji3.It was good, I liked it a lot.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “yesterday” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
