Yesterday in Korean: 어제 (eoje) Meaning and Pronunciation

Key Facts

• Hangul: 어제; Revised Romanization: eoje
• Part of speech: noun
• Origin: native
• Register: Neutral, everyday native word.

Yesterday in Korean: What Does 어제 Mean?

어제 is the native everyday word for the day before today. It works like an adverb of time, placed near the front of the sentence without any particle. Time phrases build on it: 어제 아침, 어제 저녁, the compound 어젯밤 for last night and 어제오늘 for the last day or two. The register is neutral and everyday, so the word fits chat with friends as well as polite conversation. Its two close neighbours on the calendar are 그저께, the day before yesterday, and 오늘, today, so the three together mark off the recent past and the present.

How Do You Pronounce 어제?

The romanization is eoje, two syllables, eo-je.

Example Sentences with 어제

A movie sentence. 어제 comes first, with no 에, and 봤어요 is the past of seeing.

The particle 는 sets yesterday up for contrast. 일찍 means early, and 잤어요 is the past of sleeping.

A compound time phrase. 저녁 narrows yesterday to its evening, and 만났어요 is the past of meeting.

Common Phrases with 어제

Time-of-day phrases follow the same pattern. 어젯밤 is a compound with 밤 (night): the ㅅ added under 제 tenses the next sound, so it sounds like eoje-ppam (RR eojetbam).

The Mistake to Avoid

Wrong: 어제에 갔어요, with the particle 에 after 어제.

Correct: 어제 갔어요. Time words such as 어제, 오늘 and 내일 take no 에. You can still add 는 for contrast, as in 어제는.

어제 Compared with Its Neighbours

The two time neighbours are the day before and the current day.

Where Does 어제 Come From?

어제 is a native Korean noun with no hanja form.

Catching up about Last Night

Two classmates talk before a lesson. Mina asks about the previous evening, expecting that Alex was busy. 어제 supplies the day, while 저녁 narrows the question to the evening.

Mina

Alex

Mina

Alex

The answer about the movie does not repeat 어제 because the question has already set the day. Mina then uses 어제는 to contrast that day with Alex’s usual busy schedule. Alex’s 네 agrees with the negative question: “That’s right, I wasn’t busy.” The following explanation makes that agreement clear in English.

Does 어제 Need a past-Tense Verb?

어제 tells you when the event happened; the ending of the verb still carries tense. The existing movie example has 봤어요, and the sleeping example has 잤어요. A beginner can use 어제 with an ordinary past form for a finished event yesterday. The time word itself does not change to show past tense.

A past-time phrase can also be the subject of a present statement. For example, a speaker can say they do not remember yesterday’s events now. The events belong to yesterday, while the act of remembering belongs to the present. Choose the verb tense for what the sentence says, rather than adding a past ending solely because 어제 appears somewhere in it.

어제는 adds a topic or contrast. In the earlier example about sleeping early, it can suggest “yesterday, at least” or contrast yesterday with another day. 어제 by itself simply locates the event. The extra 는 is useful when comparing days, but it does not change which day 어제 names.

Why Is There 에 in 어제 저녁에?

어제 alone normally does not take the time particle 에. In 어제 저녁에, the particle attaches to 저녁, “evening”. The whole phrase means “yesterday evening”. The same pattern gives 어제 아침에, “yesterday morning”. There is no conflict between leaving 에 off 어제 and using it after a more specific time-of-day noun.

You can also attach 의 to link yesterday to a noun: 어제의 일 means yesterday’s events or what happened yesterday. That is a different job from marking the time when something happened. The usual advice to leave off 에 does not mean 어제 can never have any particle. The existing 어제는 example already shows another useful attachment.

어제부터 means “since yesterday” or “from yesterday”. 어제까지 means “until yesterday”. These endings turn a day into a starting point or an endpoint. In a discussion of opening hours or a deadline, that small difference matters more than whether the main verb is present or past.

Expressions That Stretch beyond One Day

어제오늘 literally joins yesterday and today. It can refer to the last day or two, but 어제오늘 일이 아니다 is a common expression meaning that a situation is nothing new. Literally, it is “not a matter of yesterday and today”. A complaint using it says the problem has existed for a while, rather than restricting it to those two days.

어제 in a casual message is relative to the day the speaker sends it. When reading an older message, use the message date to understand which day was meant. A news story or personal account can also report what someone said earlier, so keep track of whose “yesterday” is being described. An exact date is clearer when the day must remain unambiguous later.

Where Will You Hear 어제?

어제 is common in small talk, messages, diaries and conversations about recent events. It is neutral enough for a polite classroom question or a casual catch-up. News reporting also uses 전날, “the previous day”, when linking an event to another date in the story. 전날 can look backward from a past event; 어제 normally looks backward from the speaker’s today.

Nearby Days and Time Questions

The time expressions lesson connects these day words with time-of-day phrases.

Quick Self-Test

1. In 어제 저녁에, which word takes 에?
2. Which means “since yesterday”: 어제부터 or 어제까지?
3. Does 어제오늘 일이 아니다 describe a completely new problem?

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you say "yesterday" in Korean?

Say 어제 (eoje).

Do I add 에 to 어제?

No. Words like 어제 take no 에.

How do I say "last night"?

Say 어젯밤.

What is "the day before yesterday"?

It is 그저께, two days ago.

Related Words and What to Learn Next

• Theme list: Time expressions vocabulary groups 어제 with its neighbours.
• Index: Korean words A to Z.
• Practice: add the word to the vocabulary flashcard decks.
• Related page: Time in Korean.
• Related page: Today in Korean.