zok3昨
Jyutpingzok3
Yalejok
Definition
Yesterday; the day before today.
neutraltime
How it's used
While 昨 is a standard character for yesterday, it is almost exclusively used in compound words like 昨晚 or 昨日 in written or formal contexts. In everyday spoken Cantonese, people overwhelmingly prefer 噚日 for yesterday and 噚晚 for last night. Using 昨 alone as a standalone word for yesterday sounds unnatural and overly literary to native speakers.
Examples
Where did you go last night?
I went home right after eating dinner last night.
Related words
Common mistake
Learners often try to use 昨 as a direct substitute for 噚日 in casual conversation. Remember that 昨 is a morpheme that needs to be attached to another character to form a time reference, and even then, it carries a formal tone that contrasts with the casual nature of daily speech.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- QuestionsFrom yes or no questions to asking who, what, where, and when. The patterns you need to ask questions naturally in Cantonese.
- ClassifiersCantonese puts a classifier between a number and a noun, and a bare classifier on its own can mean the. Learn the common ones and how to use them.
- ComparisonsHow to say bigger than, the most, the same as, and not as good as. Cantonese uses 過 where Mandarin uses 比, and that catches a lot of learners out.
