How to Say ‘Last night’ in Japanese
きのうの夜
kinou no yoru
[kee-noh noh yoh-roo]
💬 Usage Tip: Japanese often builds time expressions with [の]: [きのうの夜] = "last night," [きょうの午後] = "this afternoon." It's a handy pattern for combining a day word with part of the day.
Phrase Breakdown
きのう
kinou
[kee-noh]
yesterday
きのう gives the time reference “yesterday.”
きのうの夜は家にいました。
I was at home last night.
の夜
no yoru
at night of; last night
の links きのう and 夜; here it means 'yesterday night / last night.'
きのうの夜は寒かったです。
Last night was cold.
Words in this phrase
の
no
[noh]
of; 's
の connects きのう and 夜 into one time expression.
きのうの夜から寒いです。
It has been cold since last night.
夜
yoru
[yoh-roo]
night; evening
夜 means night; with きのうの it becomes “last night.”
夜は早く寝ます。
I go to bed early at night.
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