昨 meaning and stroke order
Yesterday; formerly, in the past
How to write 昨, stroke by stroke
9 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
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- 8
- 9
Meaning of 昨
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- yesterday
How 昨 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Day.
日 gives the meaning and 乍 hints at the sound.
Radical: 日 (sun), shared by 116 characters on this site.
How to remember 昨
昨 combines 日 (rì, sun or day) on the left with 乍 (zhà) on the right, which gives the sound. Picture a day 日 that just suddenly 乍 slipped away: that is yesterday.
昨 is almost never used alone in modern speech. It appears in words like 昨天 (zuótiān, yesterday) and 昨晚 (zuówǎn, last night), while 昨日 (zuórì) sounds more formal or written. Example: 我昨天很忙。(Wǒ zuótiān hěn máng.) I was very busy yesterday.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 昨 with 作 (zuò, to do), which has the same 乍 part but a person radical 亻 instead of 日. The tones also differ: 昨 is second tone zuó, while 作 is fourth tone zuò.
Common words with 昨
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
昨 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 昨
How many strokes are in 昨?
昨 is written with 9 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 昨 mean?
昨 (zuó) means yesterday; formerly, in the past. A common word with it is 昨天 (zuótiān), meaning "yesterday".
How do you pronounce 昨?
昨 is pronounced zuó, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 昨?
The radical of 昨 is 日, which carries the idea of "sun". Dictionaries list 昨 under this radical.
Is 昨 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 昨 is part of the HSK 1 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 1.
How do you say the day before yesterday in Chinese?
Use 前天 (qiántiān). 昨 only covers one day back, so 昨天 is yesterday and 前天 is two days ago.
Where does 昨天 go in a Chinese sentence?
Time words like 昨天 usually come before the verb, either at the start of the sentence or right after the subject. For example, 昨天我看书了 and 我昨天看书了 both mean I read yesterday.