Learn how to use the words today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, yesterday, and the day before yesterday like a native speaker. Also, increase your range of conversation topics with time by adding the preposition in and the adverb ago.
| Feb. 7th – The Day Before Yesterday |
| Feb. 8th – Yesterday |
| Feb. 9th – Today |
| Feb. 10th – Tomorrow |
| Feb. 11th – The Day After Tomorrow |
Watch the video to review the grammar with audio and video, AND improve your English listening and pronunciation skills with a chance to listen and repeat some natural English sentences.
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It is Wednesday, Feb. 9th.
- Feb. 9th – today
- Feb. 10th – tomorrow
- Feb. 11th – the day after tomorrow
What if we go back?
- Feb. 9th – today
- Feb. 8th – yesterday
- Feb. 7th – the day before yesterday
Please look at the following calendar:
Today Tomorrow The day after tomorrow
Pretend that today is Wednesday, February 9th. We will use a calendar from 2011 to guide us as we practice this English grammar.
We will start with and an easy one. What do we call Thursday, February 10th? Tomorrow of course!
Now when we talk about Friday, February 11th we will say “the day after tomorrow.”
“I’m going to Hokkaido the day after tomorrow.”
In natural communication, it’s probably more common to just say:
“I’m going to Hokkaido on Friday.”
Learn future tense grammar HERE
AFTER the Day After Tomorrow
After Friday the 11th we count how many days forward and use the preposition IN. Remember that today is Wednesday, February 9th, so if we want to talk about Saturday, February 12th we would say “IN 3 days.”
“I’m going to Hokkaido IN 3 days.” = 3 days from today.
What would we say for Sunday the 13th? That’s right! “IN 4 days.”
Remember it is also natural to simply use the day or date to share your future plans. We use the preposition ON when we talk about a specific DAY or DATE.
Day is talking about the days of the week – Monday to Sunday.
Date is talking about the day of the month – 1st, 14th, 22nd etc.
I’m going to Hokkaido on the 13th.
Chris has to work on Saturday.
Lucas will arrive on the 28th.
The 28th means THIS MONTH.
If a date follows the article THE, the speaker is talking about the current month.
We can use the preposition IN with other periods of time too.
- Jason will be here IN about 10 minutes. = About 10 minutes from now.
- We’re leaving IN an hour. = 1 hour from now.
- I will go to Hokkaido IN 3 weeks. = 3 weeks from now.
- I will graduate IN 2 months. = Two months from now.
- My Dad will retire IN 4 years. = 4 years from now.
Learn more about the preposition “IN” HERE
Yesterday and The day before yesterday
Now past times, what do we call Tuesday, February 8th?
Yesterday!
Now, what do you think we call Monday, February 7th?
We say “the day before yesterday.”
“I went to Hokkaido the day before yesterday.”
BEFORE The day before yesterday
Before Monday, February 7th we count backward and use the word AGO.
Remember that today is Wednesday, February 9th, so if we want to talk about Sunday, February 6th we would say “3 days AGO.”
“I went to Hokkaido 3 days AGO.” = 3 days before today. (earlier)
What would we say for Saturday, February 5th? You got it! “4 days AGO.”
We can also use the adverb AGO with other periods of time.
- Jason left work about 20 minutes AGO. = About 20 minutes earlier.
- The pizza came an hour AGO. = 1 hour before now.
- I went to Hokkaido 3 weeks AGO. = 3 weeks before today.
- I graduated 2 months AGO. = Two months before earlier.
- My Dad retired 4 years AGO. = 4 years before earlier.
“Where is my new computer!!! I ordered it 6 days AGO!!!”
—“I’m sorry sir, your computer should arrive the day after tomorrow.”
Today – tomorrow – the day after tomorrow *Conclusion
Was this blog post easy to understand? Can you use the grammar right now? Tell me in the comment section below about your future plans.
Thanks for reading my blog post. I hope you have a great day today, a fantastic tomorrow, and an awesome day after tomorrow!
Thanks to https://www.realgrammar.com/blog/day-after-tomorrow/
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‘Pretend that today is Wednesday, February 9th. What do we call Thursday, February 10th? Tomorrow of course!
Now when we talk about Friday, February 11th we will say “the day after tomorrow.” ‘
“The day after tomorrow” is actually quite rare. Many speakers would say the day of the week, such as “on Friday”. People usually try to keep things simpler (shorter) when possible.
Other languages have common expressions for this, but in English people typically use “yesterday”, “today”, and “tomorrow” and the names of the days of the week.
Hi Carl,
I agree that saying the day of the week is probably more common, but I wouldn’ say “quite rare.”
You’re right that other languages have similar expressions, that’s why I like to teach this grammar. It’s an easy switch from their own language to English.
Thanks for your comment!
Yes, it can be useful for students if they want a quick switch that people understand. But it is also useful for them to be aware of how people typically use English.
I say “quite rare” based on the data available in COCA (The Corpus of Contemporary American English).
“today”(431369)
“yesterday” (65657)
“tomorrow” (92391)
“the day after tomorrow” (450)
I think it’s also good for students to see how English is different from their first language.
Hi Carl, not only are you correct but my post already acknowledged your point.
Below the picture underneath the “I’m going to Hokkaido the day after tomorrow.” it says -“In natural communication, it’s probably more common to just say: “I’m going to Hokkaido on Friday.” ”
You may have missed that.
I reacted to your comment without reviewing my own post! That’s my bad.
Thanks again for your comments. 🙂