HSK 3.0 Level 3 · Time

前天 qiántiān “the day before yesterday” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 前天 means

  1. the day before yesterday

How to say 前天

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale前qián2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale天tiān1st tone, high and level

前天 in a sentence

  1. 他弟弟前天去上海了。

    Tā dìdi qiántiān qù Shànghǎi le.

    His younger brother went to Shanghai the day before yesterday.

    Sentence #1216067 from Tatoeba

  2. 我前天碰到了他。

    Wǒ qiántiān pèngdào le tā.

    I ran into him the day before yesterday.

    Sentence #10350436 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我前天买了台相机。

    Wǒ qiántiān mǎi le tái xiàngjī.

    I bought a camera the day before yesterday.

    Sentence #10659326 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 前天 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 前 (qián) with each of its parts in a different colour
前qiánfront
  • 丷eight form of 八 · bā
  • 一one · yī
  • 刖cutting off the feet as a form of punishment · yuè
The character 天 (tiān) with each of its parts in a different colour
天tiānday
  • 一one · yī
  • 大big · dà

Memory aidA person 大 with the sky 一 above: sky, heaven, day.

How to write 前天

前 9 strokes · 天 4 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

前天 (qiántiān) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 前天 (qiántiān). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 前天

Words with 前

前qián · front前面qiánmiàn · front以前yǐqián · before面前miànqián · in front of前年qiánnián · the year before last提前tíqián · to bring forward之前zhīqián · before从前cóngqián · previously目前mùqián · at the present time前途qiántú · prospects

Words with 天

天tiān · day今天jīntiān · today明天míngtiān · tomorrow昨天zuótiān · yesterday天气tiānqì · weather白天báitiān · daytime星期天Xīngqītiān · Sunday聊天liáotiān · to chat夏天xiàtiān · summer冬天dōngtiān · winter

More words: Time & Dates

春天chūntiān · spring (season)假期jiàqī · holiday秋天qiūtiān · autumn半天bàntiān · half a day后天hòutiān · the day after tomorrow四季sìjì · the four seasons工作日gōngzuòrì · working day前年qiánnián · the year before last

FAQs

前天 (qiántiān) means “the day before yesterday”. It is an HSK 3.0 Level 3 word.
Say it qiántiān: qián with a 2nd tone, then tiān with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 前天 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type qiantian with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 前天 from the suggestions. Typing qiantian into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
前天 is an HSK 3.0 Level 3 word in the official 2021 syllabus, and it is on our HSK 3.0 Band 5 word list. It is not on the older HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.