Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 昨天 | zuótiān |
| 昨日 | zuórì |
The term refers to the day before today. It can be used as a noun to identify the day or as an adverb to describe when an action occurred.
What does it mean word for word?
The word 昨天 is composed of 昨, meaning yesterday or past and 天, meaning day or sky.
Which one should you use?
昨天 is the standard way to say yesterday in daily speech. In contrast, 昨日 is a more formal version often found in written literature or news reporting.
Is it said differently in some regions?
The form 昨儿 is a colloquialism common in Northern China, particularly in the Beijing dialect, where an 'er' suffix is frequently added to nouns.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
In Mandarin, time words like 昨天 function as both nouns and adverbs. They can serve as the subject of a sentence or modify a verb directly without needing a preposition like 'on'. For example, the phrase 昨天这个时候 means 'this time yesterday'.
How do you pronounce it?
zuótiān
Did you know?
- While English speakers use 'yesterday' to mean 'in the past' metaphorically, using 昨天 to mean 'the old days' in Mandarin can sound strangely literal, as if you are pointing to a specific 24-hour period.
- The use of 昨儿 is so strongly associated with Beijing that using it in Southern China may immediately signal that a speaker is from the North.
- The character 天 in 昨天 means both 'day' and 'sky', reflecting an ancient view that the cycle of a day is defined by the heavens.
Examples in context
- 昨天星期幾？Yesterday was what day of the week?This sentence is useful for asking about the day of the week using 昨天.Tatoeba #5390925 by xjjAstrus, translation #5573371 by n1ls
- 我昨天喝多了I drank too much yesterday.This sentence is useful for describing an action that happened using 昨天.Tatoeba #5414466 by Janevy, translation #10455244 by DaoSeng
- 昨天是多雲。It was cloudy yesterday.This sentence is useful for describing weather conditions using 昨天.Tatoeba #6092451 by xjjAstrus, translation #244466 by CK
- 527 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Xinyi and Junjie are discussing a movie they missed.
- 俊杰 Junjie你昨天去電影院了嗎？Nǐ zuótiān qù diànyǐngyuàn le ma?Did you go to the cinema yesterday?
- 晓雯 Xiaowen我昨天太忙了，沒去。Wǒ zuótiān tài máng le, méi qù.I was too busy yesterday, so I didn't go.
- 俊杰 Junjie那太可惜了。Nà tài kěxī le.That's too bad.
- 晓雯 Xiaowen沒關係，我今天可以看。Méiguānxì, wǒ jīntiān kěyǐ kàn.It's okay, I can watch it today.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “yesterday” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
