šodien / rīt / vakar

Today, Tomorrow and Yesterday

Level 1

šodien today · rīt tomorrow · vakar yesterday · parīt the day after tomorrow · aizvakar the day before yesterday

How It Works

Five days around today.

  • aizvakar: the day before yesterday
  • vakar: yesterday
  • šodien: today
  • rīt: tomorrow
  • parīt: the day after tomorrow

They never change. Put them at the start or right after the subject: Šodien es strādāju. or Es šodien strādāju. (I am working today.)

Which tense?

  • Šodien works with any tense.
  • Rīt and parīt often take the present for plans: Rīt es braucu uz Rīgu. The future tense works too: Rīt es braukšu uz Rīgu.
  • Vakar and aizvakar need the past: Vakar es biju mājās. (Yesterday I was at home.) See the past of būt.

Do not mix them up with morning and evening. Rīt (tomorrow) looks like rīts (morning), and vakar (yesterday) looks like vakars (evening). Vakarā means in the evening, and in the morning is no rīta (see time with the locative).

This morning, this evening. Two more everyday words work the same way: šorīt (this morning) and šovakar (this evening). Combine words for more detail: rīt no rīta (tomorrow morning), vakar vakarā (yesterday evening).

As a noun. When tomorrow must be a noun, use rītdiena: līdz rītdienai (until tomorrow).

Examples (6)

  1. Šodien ir svētdiena.

    Today is Sunday.

    Word by Word: Today is Sunday.

    Šodien needs no preposition and no ending.

  2. Rīt es braucu uz Rīgu.

    Tomorrow I am going to Riga.

    Word by Word: Tomorrow I travel to Riga.

    Rīt with the present describes a plan.

  3. Vakar es biju mājās.

    Yesterday I was at home.

    Word by Word: Yesterday I was at-home.

    Vakar goes with the past: biju is the past of būt.

  4. Parīt ir koncerts.

    There is a concert the day after tomorrow.

    Word by Word: Day-after-tomorrow is concert.

    Parīt means two days from today.

  5. Aizvakar bija piektdiena.

    The day before yesterday was Friday.

    Word by Word: Day-before-yesterday was Friday.

    Aizvakar means two days ago, so the verb is in the past: bija.

  6. Ko tu dari šovakar?

    What are you doing this evening?

    Word by Word: What you do this-evening?

    Šovakar works just like šodien and rīt.

Common Mistakes

  • Using vakarā (in the evening) when you mean yesterday.

    Vakarā es biju Rīgā.
    Vakar es biju Rīgā.

    Vakarā es biju Rīgā is a correct sentence, but it means In the evening I was in Riga. For yesterday, use vakar with no ending.

  • Adding the noun ending -s to rīt.

    Rīts es strādāju.
    Rīt es strādāju.

    Rīts is the noun morning. Tomorrow is rīt, with no -s.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

šodien / rīt / vakarLevel 1Today, Tomorrow and Yesterday

Learn This First

Today, tomorrow and yesterday frame time with verbs.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

vakarparītaizvakar