昨
さく
last, previous (prefix: yesterday, last night, last year)
By Nihongo PathUpdated
Examples
昨年、初めて日本へ行きました。
さくねん、はじめてにほんへいきました。
Last year I went to Japan for the first time.
昨夜は雨がひどかった。
さくやはあめがひどかった。
The rain was heavy last night.
昨日の試合を見ましたか。
きのうのしあいをみましたか。
Did you watch yesterday's game?
Common patterns
- 昨年
- last year
- 昨夜
- last night
- 昨日
- yesterday
Memory tip
昨 never stands alone — it is a prefix meaning "the one just past", and it belongs to formal or written Japanese: 昨年 in a report where speech would say 去年. Its opposite prefix is 翌 (the next ~).
Kanji in this word
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What does 昨 mean?