Last night and yesterday night

[Ju]

1. I had a big dinner last night.
2. I had a big dinner yesterday night.

What are the differences between the above sentences?

 

[tedmc]

1. I had a big dinner last night.
2. I had a big dinner yesterday night.

What are the differences between the above sentences?

Both are fine but #1 is more commonly said.

 

[emsr2d2]

I'm going to go so far as to say the vast majority of native speakers do not use "yesterday night" and would consider it very unnatural, if not wrong. I'm sure someone will tell me that there's a regional use somewhere.

My advice to all learners - use "last night" and you'll never be wrong.

It might be one of those things you just need to memorise because it's not the same for all times of day.

Yesterday morning :tick:
Yesterday lunchtime :tick:
Yesterday afternoon :tick:
Yesterday evening :tick:
Last night :tick:

 

[tzfujimino]

I've heard/read ''last evening".

 

[PeterCW]

I don't think that I have ever heard anybody say "last evening" but it doesn't sound as unnatural as "yesterday night".

 

[teechar]

For our learners, note that "last evening" is possible in certain contexts, where "last" means final (not the previous day).

The resort was fantastic, but it felt a bit cold on our last evening.
The venue was packed on the last evening of the performance.

Also, if you specify a particular day, then "last" is correct:
The meeting took place last Sunday evening.

Thus, tzfujimino is correct to report encountering that combination of words.

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Also, emsr2d2 is correct in saying that "yesterday evening" is much more natural (and thus more common) than "yesterday night".

https://books.google.com/ngrams/gra...esterday evening;,c0;.t1;,yesterday night;,c0

 

[jutfrank]

As a teacher, I spend a fair amount of time encouraging students to stop saying yesterday night and to say last night instead. Many of these learners are translating literally from their first language.

I find last evening horribly unnatural, by the way. I suppose that must be a regional thing.

 

[Ju]

Do 'yesterday evening' and 'last night' mean the same and are they interchangeable?

 

[SoothingDave]

"Yesterday evening" is unnatural to me.

 

[emsr2d2]

"Yesterday evening" is unnatural to me.

But would you use "last evening"?

 

[emsr2d2]

As Piscean said, sometimes "yesterday evening" and "last night" are interchangeable but not always. For me, it depends on the duration of the event. If I did something from 7pm until 8pm, I'd say "yesterday evening". If I did something from 7pm until (or until after) midnight, I'd say "last night". If I did something from 10pm until 11pm, I'd say "last night".
If I did something from 7pm until 9pm, I'm not sure which I'd choose. It might depend on how light it was! In the height of summer, when it's light until nearly 10pm, I'd probably use "yesterday evening" but in the depths of winter when it's dark by 4pm, I'd probably use "last night". Many of us associate night with darkness.

 

[SoothingDave]

But would you use "last evening"?

Probably not. "Last night" If I had to specify, I would probably say "yesterday in the evening."