n.
yesterday
昨天
Common Usage & Traps
- 昨天上午 — yesterday morning
- 昨天下午 — yesterday afternoon
- 昨天晚上 — yesterday evening / last night
- 昨天早上 — yesterday morning (colloquial and completely natural)
- 昨天没有 — didn't have yesterday / there was no ... yesterday
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我去了学校昨天我昨天去了学校Time words like 昨天 go before the verb, not after it. Native speakers hear this as broken.
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昨天我很忙了昨天我很忙昨天 already sets the past time. 了 is not needed for a plain state, so this sounds like a clumsy double past.
Can you say 我去了学校昨天 to mean 'I went to school yesterday'?
No. 昨天 must sit before the verb or at the start: 我昨天去了学校 or 昨天我去了学校.
Chinese time words set the stage before the action. If you park 昨天 after the verb, native ears hear a broken sentence. Put it first or right after the subject. “它们昨天就没有吃的东西了。” (They already had no food yesterday.) ── [《吃的东西和喝的东西》](/read/buying-food-drinks#s11)
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Position | 我昨天去了学校。 | 我去了学校昨天。 |
| Position | 昨天我去了学校。 | 我去学校昨天了。 |
Does 昨天 always require 了 in the sentence?
No. 昨天 only sets the time; 了 marks a completed action and is often optional.
Learners often treat 昨天 like an English past-tense switch, so they add 了 everywhere. But 昨天 just means yesterday. You can say 昨天我很忙 without 了. Add 了 when you want to stress a done deal, like 昨天我买了菜.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Plain state | 昨天我很忙。 | 昨天我很忙了。 |
| Location state | 昨天我在家。 | 昨天我在家了。 |
Appears in Stories 3 stories
Real context sentences across different daily scenarios and graded readings.
This playful poem turns numbers into a rhythm of daily life. As you read, practice counting, days of the week, and common time words in a fun, memorable way.
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六七八九十， 昨天 星期四；十四是十四，四十是四十。
Follow a day from waking at six-thirty to coming home at eight, then leap across days, months, and years. This simple story helps you practice speaking about routines and life changes with clear time words.
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昨天 卖了我的车。
This is a short dialogue about a shopping trip. A woman buys many things, including food, drinks, furniture, and pet food, while her boyfriend reminds her not to overspend.
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它们 昨天 就没有吃的东西了。
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