先せん月げつ

せ

ん

げ

つ

Common wordJLPTN5Freq.FrequencyTop 10,000

Meanings

1

Refers to the month immediately before the current one. Can be used as a noun or adverbially without a particle.

I started a new job last month.

先せん月げつの会かい議ぎの議ぎ事じ録ろくを送おくってください。

Please send the minutes of last month's meeting.

先せん月げつの〈時とき〉a specific day or period within last month
先せん月げつの10日とおかに引ひっ越こしました。
I moved on the 10th of last month.
先せん月げつに比くらべて〈事こと〉compared to last month
先せん月げつに比くらべて売うり上あげが増ふえた。
Sales have increased compared to last month.

前ぜん月げつ
前月 is a more formal, written equivalent of 先月, often used in reports or documents to mean 'the previous month'.

来らい月げつN5
先月 means 'last month' while 来月 means 'next month', the direct opposite point in time.
今こん月げつN5
今月 is the present month, whereas 先月 is the month before it.

今こん月げつN5
先月 (last month) and 今月 (this month) look and sound similar but refer to different months relative to now, so learners often mix them up.
先せん々せん月げつN3
先月 means 'last month' (one month ago), while 先々月 means 'the month before last' (two months ago) — easy to mix up because of the similar spelling.

Compound of 先 (sen, 'previous') and 月 (getsu, 'month').