Today, Tomorrow and Yesterday in Japanese: Find the Reference Day
Knowing the day words is only the first step. Follow one plan across a day change, distinguish a new statement from an old message, and attach a calendar date before you reuse a relative time word.
Inku editorial team · Published · 3 min read
Japanese words for today, tomorrow and yesterday need a reference day: the day from which the speaker is describing the event. When that day changes, the word for the same event can change too. Start with these readings from the MLC day-word lesson:
- 今日 (きょう, kyō, "today") means the current day in the stated context.
- 明日 (あした, ashita, "tomorrow") means the following day.
- 昨日 (きのう, kinō, "yesterday") means the preceding day.
The TUFS explanation of relative time organizes day expressions around the current day. That relationship matters more than memorizing a calendar date beside each word.
Anchor the first statement
Imagine a learner speaking on October 17 about a school visit planned for October 18. These dates are an illustration, not a real appointment.
あした学校に行きます。 (あしたがっこうにいきます, ashita gakkō ni ikimasu, "I will go to school tomorrow.")
In this scene, the sentence points to October 18 because October 17 is the speaking day. Write down both dates if you are practising: speaking day October 17; school visit October 18. The Japanese time word describes the relationship between them.
The sentence also illustrates a basic construction worth keeping intact. The TUFS lesson on time expressions uses tomorrow directly before the rest of the verb sentence, without adding the time marker ni after it. This is a checked beginner pattern, not a rule that forbids every other construction involving time words.
Move the speaking day, keep the event
Now move the speaker to October 18 while keeping the school visit on October 18. The visit is today. Reusing tomorrow would point a day further ahead and describe a different date.
On October 19, a speaker looking back at that October 18 visit describes it as yesterday. The event has stayed on the calendar; the reference day has moved. The verb form would also need to suit a completed event, so do not change only the time word and assume the whole sentence is ready.
This is a useful check when plans change. First decide whether the event moved, the speaking day moved, or both. Then choose the relative word. You do not need to translate the entire conversation to establish that relationship.
Read an older message from its own context
Suppose you open the October 17 message on October 18. Its original tomorrow still refers to October 18 in that message's context. Opening it a day later does not silently rewrite the sender's original plan.
A quoted sentence can likewise preserve an earlier speaker's reference point. Look for the message date, the surrounding conversation and any explicit calendar date. If these are missing, do not turn a relative word into a confident appointment date.
For an actual arrangement, confirm the calendar date when the reference is unclear. A vocabulary guess is not enough to settle where or when someone expects you.
Practise the reference check
- Identify who is speaking and on which day.
- Translate the relative word into a calendar date for that scene.
- Move the speaking day while keeping the event fixed.
- Say in English which relative word now fits, before making a new Japanese sentence.
The N5 time vocabulary page supplies the wider word inventory. The weekday and month guide covers calendar labels. Keep this exercise focused on the reference day.
Choose one dated example from your reading, or browse the public vocabulary and phrase library for an item to study in context. Write the speaking day and intended calendar day beside it before reusing its time word.
Sources
- TUFS: time words anchored to the current day — Current day, week, month and year provide the reference point for related time words. The lesson supplies the ordered day-word sequence. (checked 2026-10-17)
- TUFS: time expressions in a verb sentence — The basic examples use tomorrow and yesterday without a following time-marker ni. This supports only the stated beginner sentence pattern, not every possible construction. (checked 2026-10-17)
- MLC: original day-word lesson and readings — The school's original lesson pairs yesterday, today and tomorrow with kana readings, romaji and English meanings; examples include going to school tomorrow. (checked 2026-10-17)
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