Français — Time reference markers
A short set of adverbs and phrases that place an action in time: aujourd'hui, hier, demain and a few neighbours. They do not change form and usually sit at the start or end of the sentence.
How it works
These markers are invariable adverbs and set phrases; place them at the start or end of the clause, as in aujourd'hui, je travaille or je t'appelle demain. They pair directly with the present tense at A1 (hier is used with the past later on).
Examples
| Marker | Meaning |
|---|---|
| avant-hier | the day before yesterday |
| hier | yesterday |
| aujourd'hui | today |
| demain | tomorrow |
| après-demain | the day after tomorrow |
| la semaine dernière / prochaine | last week / next week |
| ce matin | this morning |
| en ce moment | right now, at the moment |
Good to know
For "the day before/after yesterday/tomorrow", French uses single fixed words, not multi-word phrases: avant-hier and après-demain (both hyphenated). Don't build them word by word from English. Also note aujourd'hui always keeps its apostrophe, and la semaine dernière / prochaine take no preposition — say la semaine prochaine, not *dans la semaine prochaine.