Correct Answer: D
As you may know, today is “今天(jīntiān)” in Chinese. However, if you want to talk about a recent day in the past, like yesterday or the day before yesterday, how can you express that? Or how can you talk about days in the near future, like tomorrow or the day after tomorrow? Today, we will take a closer look at how to talk about days in the near past and future.
The chart below will help you to better understand these expressions. All of these terms pop up often in daily communication, so be sure to remember them!
| qiántiān | zuótiān | jīntiān | míngtiān | hòutiān |
| 前天 | 昨天 | 今天 | 明天 | 后天 |
| the day before yesterday | yesterday | today | tomorrow | the day after tomorrow |
In Chinese, “今天(jīntiān)” = today.
Examples:
Nǐ jīntiān xiǎng chī shénme?
你 今天 想 吃 什么？
What do you want to eat today?
Tā jīntiān hěn kāixīn.
他 今天 很 开心。
He is very happy today.
When it comes to days in the past, “昨天(zuótiān)” = yesterday and “前天(qiántiān)” = the day before yesterday.
Examples:
Zuótiān tiānqì hěn hǎo.
昨天 天气 很 好。
The weather was good yesterday.
Wǒ qiántiān zài Zhōngguó.
我 前天 在 中国。
I was in China the day before yesterday.
As for future days, “明天(míngtiān)” = tomorrow and “后天(hòutiān)” = the day after tomorrow.
Examples:
Míngtiān shì qíngrénjié.
明天 是 情人节。
Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day.
Nǐ hòutiān shàngbān ma?
你 后天 上班 吗？
Will you work the day after tomorrow?
In the test above, we know that “今天(jīntiān) today” is Wednesday. From that information we can easily figure out that “前天(qiántiān) the day before yesterday” was Monday and “后天(hòutiān) the day after tomorrow” will be Friday. Therefore, the correct answer is D.
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