14

What is the proper way to say “after yesterday” in French? For example, how would the phrase “How are you feeling after yesterday?” (meaning “after what happened yesterday”) translate into French?

I have a feeling that it should be “après l'hier”, but this phrase only gets a handful of hits on Google.

I know I can probably say “après ce qui s'est passé hier”, but that's too long.

3
  • on second though, is "after yesterday" with this meaning a correct english expression?
    – Nikko
    Feb 7, 2013 at 20:15
  • @Nikko I agree that it might be more of a jargon meaning, but even if it is, I wanted to know if there's a similar expression in French. This was for a text message.
    – Artyom
    Feb 8, 2013 at 13:32
  • French sentences are usually longer, unless you're trying to be witty, so your long sentence is pretty natural.
    – PatrickT
    Jun 14, 2019 at 15:49

6 Answers 6

20

Après ce qui s'est passé hier” is perfectly correct. If you're looking for something shorter, you may say “depuis hier”.

4
  • Doesn't "depuis hier" slightly change the meaning though? "since yesterday" is a bit different from "after yesterday".
    – Artyom
    Jan 26, 2013 at 2:07
  • 5
    No. Don't think of it literally as the English "since." It's translated that way out of convenience, but the two words are not identical. It sounds odd in English but in French it makes sense. Jan 26, 2013 at 3:39
  • @Aerovistae, "depuis hier" is correct, but for me has another meaning (the question is then is about the evolution since yesterday, not about the events of yesterday). Feb 7, 2013 at 15:44
  • I think "Depuis hier" does not convey the same meaning. It implies "since I last saw you yesterday".
    – Nikko
    Feb 7, 2013 at 16:45
7

The most natural will probably be “comment te sens-tu, après hier”, just like in English. It seems a bit odd to me, I wouldn't write it down, nor back its correctness, but that may well be what people will understand better while chatting.

I'd argue “depuis hier” is more correct, even though less natural. (“Since what happened yesterday”, is very close to “after what happened yesterday”, when you think about it.)

If you can pronounce “après ce qu'il s'est passé hier” fast enough¹, that's better, though. That's “après [sksé] passé hier”, really.

2
  • 2
    "après hier" sounds incorrect to me..
    – Nikko
    Feb 7, 2013 at 8:39
  • Look, I know, to me too. But nevertheless, that'll be understood, and probably what I'll say most naturally. And as mentionned Stéphane in chat, après hier soir is overly common. Feb 7, 2013 at 14:05
2

In your sentence “How are you feeling after yesterday?”, after can be time related (as yesterday let suggest) but it also shows causation. Depuis hier is the right phrase to translate the time relation. To translate the causation, you can use à propos d'hier (or pour hier in spoken language). Yet the question then refers only to the feelings about the event, and not if they are better in general.

Comment te sens-tu depuis hier ?
Comment te sens-tu à propos d'hier ?

2

"après hier" doesn't ring right for me. One probable cause is that it is too near to "avant-hier" and "après-demain" and thus feel like a failed attempt to say "today". In "après hier soir" that effect is broken. I'd thus either be more specific about the time or the events ("après ta chute d'hier").

« Depuis hier » is acceptable, but then the question is about the evolution since yesterday and doesn't imply at all that the triggering events happened yesterday.

2

I'd say:

après la journée d'hier

But I'm not sure if "after yesterday" is a correct english expression.

1

I'd also use "depuis hier" if I don't want to use "après ce qu'il s'est passé hier".

Even tough we could think the meaning is different, we never ask that if anything went bad the previous day(s) (so it implies somethings probably happened). So, we hope/expect that the person is felling better.

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.