昨晚
How to Understand
昨晚 (zuó wǎn) means 'last night' in English. It refers to the night before the current day, typically used to describe events that happened during that time. Unlike other time expressions, it is specific to the previous night and not used for general past times.
The character 昨 (zuó) means 'previous' or 'past,' and 晚 (wǎn) means 'night' or 'evening.' Together, they literally translate to 'previous night,' emphasizing the temporal relationship between the event and the present moment.
昨晚 is commonly used in daily conversations to refer to events that occurred the night before. For example, people might say, “我昨晚去了图书馆。” (I went to the library last night.) It is also used in news, stories, and personal accounts to indicate the timing of an event.