Meaning of 明日
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- tomorrow
How to use 明日
明日 is a more formal or written way to say tomorrow. You will see it in news, notices, literature and set phrases, while in daily speech people usually say 明天 (míngtiān). Example: 会议将于明日上午举行。(Huìyì jiāng yú míngrì shàngwǔ jǔxíng.) The meeting will be held tomorrow morning.
明 (míng) means bright, and 日 (rì) means sun or day. Think of 明日 as the next bright day, the day when the sun comes up again.
Common mistake: Learners often use 明日 in casual conversation, which sounds stiff or bookish. With friends, say 明天见 (míngtiān jiàn) rather than 明日见.
明日 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
明 míng · bright · 8 strokes
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日 rì · sun · 4 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 明日.
| 明白 | míngbai | clear; obvious; unequivocal; sensible; reasonable |
| 明天 | míngtiān | tomorrow |
| 生日 | shēngrì | birthday |
| 日期 | rìqī | date |
| 明年 | míngnián | next year |
| 星期日 | xīngqīrì | Sunday |
| 日子 | rìzi | day; a (calendar) date |
| 说明 | shuōmíng | to explain; to illustrate |
| 明星 | míngxīng | star; celebrity |
| 节日 | jiérì | holiday; festival |
| 日报 | rìbào | daily newspaper |
| 证明 | zhèngmíng | proof; certificate |
Questions about 明日
What does 明日 mean?
明日 (míngrì) means "tomorrow" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 明日?
明日 is made of 2 characters: 明 (8 strokes), 日 (4 strokes). That is 12 strokes in total.
Is 明日 an HSK word?
Yes. 明日 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Does 明日 mean the same as Japanese 明日 (ashita)?
The meaning is the same, tomorrow, but in Chinese it is read míngrì and feels formal. Japanese learners should not assume it is the everyday word in Chinese, because that role belongs to 明天.
What are common set phrases with 明日?
A well known one is 明日之星 (míngrì zhī xīng), a rising star, someone expected to succeed in the future. You may also see 明日黄花 (míngrì huánghuā), something that is out of date.