onte / hoxe / mañá

Time Words

Level 2

Onte (yesterday), hoxe (today) and mañá (tomorrow) usually go at the start or end of the sentence: Onte fun ao cine (Yesterday I went to the cinema), Mañá imos á praia (Tomorrow we are going to the beach).

How It Works

Days: antonte (the day before yesterday), onte (yesterday), hoxe (today), mañá (tomorrow) and pasadomañá (the day after tomorrow, written as one word).

Parts of the day: pola mañá (in the morning), pola tarde (in the afternoon or early evening) and pola noite (at night), with pola. Combine them freely: onte pola noite (last night), mañá pola mañá (tomorrow morning). Esta noite means tonight. You will also see de mañá and á mañá for in the morning.

Now and later: agora (now), agora mesmo (right now), logo (later, soon) and axiña (soon, quickly). Logo also appears in ata logo (see you later).

Order of events: antes (before, earlier) and despois (afterwards): Primeiro ceamos e despois vemos unha película (First we have dinner and then we watch a film). Before a noun or an infinitive they take de; see antes de and despois de.

Early and late: cedo (early) and tarde (late): Érguese moi cedo (She gets up very early). As a noun, a tarde is the afternoon.

Tenses: onte and antonte go with a past tense such as the preterite. Mañá often goes with the present or with ir + infinitive: Mañá traballo (I am working tomorrow).

Galician forms: say onte, despois and mañá, not the Spanish ayer, después and mañana.

Examples (6)

  1. Onte fun ao cine con Sara.

    Yesterday I went to the cinema with Sara.

    Word by Word: Yesterday went-I to-the cinema with Sara.

    onte goes with the preterite.

  2. Hoxe traballo ata tarde.

    Today I am working until late.

    Word by Word: Today work-I until late.

  3. Mañá pola mañá imos á praia.

    Tomorrow morning we are going to the beach.

    Word by Word: Tomorrow through-the morning go-we to-the beach.

    mañá means both tomorrow and morning.

  4. Agora non podo; chámote logo.

    I can't right now; I'll call you later.

    Word by Word: Now not can-I; call-I-you later.

  5. Antonte chegou a miña irmá de Londres.

    My sister arrived from London the day before yesterday.

    Word by Word: Day-before-yesterday arrived the my sister from London.

  6. Érguese moi cedo e déitase tarde.

    She gets up very early and goes to bed late.

    Word by Word: Raises-herself very early and lays-herself late.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the Spanish word ayer.

    Ayer fun ao cine.
    Onte fun ao cine.

    Yesterday is onte in Galician.

  • Using the Spanish word después.

    Vémonos después.
    Vémonos despois.

    Afterwards or later is despois in Galician.

  • Writing the day after tomorrow as two words.

    Chega pasado mañá.
    Chega pasadomañá.

    Galician writes pasadomañá as one word.

Words in This Pattern

ontehoxedespois