昨夜ゆうべ

ゆ

う

べ

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 10,000

Meanings

noun, adverb

last night; yesterday evening

Refers to the previous night or evening. Often used adverbially without a particle.

昨夜ゆうべはよく眠ねむれなかった。
I couldn't sleep well last night.
昨夜ゆうべのパーティーは楽たのしかった。
The party last night was fun.

See all 34 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

昨夜ゆうべ〈時じ〉ごろごろat around [time] last night
昨夜ゆうべ11時じごろ、近きん所じょで犬いぬが吠ほえていた。
Around 11pm last night, a dog was barking in the neighborhood.
昨夜ゆうべから〈事こと〉〉since last night, ...
昨夜ゆうべから熱ねつが下さがらない。
My fever hasn't gone down since last night.
昨夜ゆうべ〈場所ばしょ〉でで〈事こと〉があったがあったsomething happened at [place] last night
昨夜ゆうべ、駅えき前まえで事じ故こがあった。
There was an accident in front of the station last night.

Kanji

昨yesterday, previous
夜night, evening
夕evening

Related words

昨さく晩ばんN1
昨晩 is a more formal, literary word for 'last night', while 昨夜（ゆうべ）is the common everyday term used in conversation.
昨さく夜やN1
ゆうべ is the everyday, conversational word for 'last night', while 昨夜 sounds slightly more formal or written.

Opposites

今こん夜やN4
今夜 means 'tonight' (the coming night), the direct temporal opposite of 昨夜, which means 'last night' (the night just past).

Don't confuse with

夕ゆうべN5
Written 夕べ, the same-sounding word usually means 'evening' as a time of day, whereas 昨夜（ゆうべ）specifically means 'last night'.

Written forms

Applies to each form listed below

gikun (meaning-based reading) or jukujikun

昨夜
- ゆうべ
  Standard kanji spelling; reading ゆうべ is a jukujikun.
- よべ
  out-dated reading
- ゆんべ
  rarely-used kana form
ゆうべUsage100%
Kana spelling is common in everyday writing, especially when the kanji reading might be ambiguous.
昨夕ゆうべ
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form; same jukujikun reading.
よべ
out-dated reading
ゆんべ
rarely-used kana form

Etymology

The reading ゆうべ is a jukujikun (meaning-based reading) for 昨夜, combining 昨 (previous) and 夜 (night). The word itself is native Japanese, related to 夕べ (evening).