昨天
HSK 1 (exam 2025)HSK 1 (2021)Old HSK 1
昨天 (zuótiān) · yesterday
昨天 (zuótiān) means “yesterday”. It is written with 2 characters: 昨 (yesterday) + 天 (day). It is an HSK 1 word in the current exam syllabus (2025).
How 昨天 is built
The characters
昨 zuó · yesterday
What 昨 is made of
- 日rì — sun; day
- 口kǒu — mouth
- 冂 — frame
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 口kǒu — mouth
- 乍zhà — first time
- 丿 — falling stroke
- 下xià — down
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 卜bo — divination
- 一 — horizontal stroke
Origin hint: 日 gives the meaning, 乍 gives the sound. (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
天 tiān · day
What 天 is made of
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 大dà — big
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 人rén — person
Origin hint: The heavens 一 above a man 大 (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
Example sentences
我昨天去医院了。Wǒ zuótiān qù yīyuàn le.I went to the hospital yesterday.
你昨天做什么了？Nǐ zuótiān zuò shénme le?What did you do yesterday?
Questions about 昨天
What does 昨天 mean?
昨天 (zuótiān) means “yesterday”.
How do you pronounce 昨天?
昨天 is pronounced zuótiān.
Which HSK level is 昨天?
昨天 is in HSK 1 (exam 2025) and HSK 1 (2021) and Old HSK 1.
Related words
- 白天báitiāndaytime
- 半天bàntiānhalf a day
- 后天hòutiānday after tomorrow
- 今天jīntiāntoday
- 明天míngtiāntomorrow
- 前天qiántiānday before yesterday
- 天气tiānqìweather
- 星期天xīngqītiānSunday
- 春天chūntiānspring (season)
- 冬天dōngtiānwinter
Learn 昨天 with its group
It is part of HSK 1 (2021) · Group 46: a short group with quick checks and spaced repeats.