Writing
前天 (qián tiān) — how to say "the day before yesterday" in Chinese
前天
The day before yesterday
noun
Character composition
前
before
天
day
Radicals / Keys
大
Big
#37 · dà · 3 strokes
刀
Knife
#18 · dāo · 2 strokes
Collocations
前天晚上
qiántiān wǎnshang
the evening before last
前天下午
qiántiān xiàwǔ
the afternoon before last
Examples
前天我去商店买了很多东西。
The day before yesterday I went to the store and bought many things.
前天是星期一。
The day before yesterday was Monday.
Mnemonic
[qián tiān-] Qian Tian the squirrel flips her calendar: today is circled, yesterday is next to it, and 前天 sits exactly two squares back. 📅 "Before (前) this day (天) I hid an acorn!" she says, and finds it right there.
Dates and years
Dates in Chinese →Try remembering 前天
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Frequently asked questions
How to say the day before yesterday in Mandarin?
"the day before yesterday" in Chinese is 前天 (qián tiān).
前天 meaning in English
前天 (qián tiān) means "The day before yesterday".
How is 前天 pronounced?
It is pronounced qián tiān (written as qian tian, qiantian). You can listen to the pronunciation on this page.
How do you write "the day before yesterday" in Chinese characters?
It is written 前天: 前 has 9 strokes, 天 has 4 strokes. The Writing section above animates the stroke order of each character and lets you trace it.
What HSK 3.0 level is 前天?
前天 is on the HSK 3.0 level 3 word list. It is not part of the six-level HSK 2.0 lists.
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