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Breakdown of Hier est un jour avant aujourd'hui.
être
to be
le jour
the day
avant
before
aujourd'hui
today
hier
yesterday
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“How does grammatical gender work in French?”
Every French noun is either masculine or feminine, and this affects the articles and adjectives used with it. "Le" is used with masculine nouns and "la" with feminine ones. Adjectives also change form to match — for example, "petit" (masc.) becomes "petite" (fem.).
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Questions & Answers about Hier est un jour avant aujourd'hui.
Why is hier placed at the start of the sentence?
In French, it's common to begin a sentence with hier to clearly indicate that we're talking about "yesterday." This positioning helps the listener or reader grasp the time reference right away.
Why do we write un jour instead of le jour?
Using un jour emphasizes that it's just one day among others, rather than referring to a specific or definite day. If we said le jour, it might suggest we're talking about a specific or previously mentioned day.
What's the function of avant in this sentence?
Avant here is a preposition meaning "before." It introduces aujourd'hui to establish that "yesterday" came before "today."
Is aujourd'hui always written as a single word?
Yes. Aujourd'hui is spelled as one word in modern French. Historically, it came from au jour d'hui, but today it's simply aujourd'hui without spaces or hyphens.
Could I say c'est un jour avant aujourd'hui instead of est un jour avant aujourd'hui?
Yes, you can say Hier, c'est un jour avant aujourd'hui, and many native speakers do. Grammatically, est is more direct and formal, while c'est is more conversational. Both versions are acceptable in everyday speech.