Grammar
Speak About Today and Yesterday in English
Learn how to effortlessly switch between present and past tense when talking about your daily routine and what happened yesterday.
Talking about your daily routine is one of the very first skills you need for real-world English conversations. Whether you are catching up with a coworker by the water cooler or sending a quick voice message to a friend, you constantly shift between what you are doing now and what you did before. With a few simple grammatical patterns, you can make this transition sound natural and effortless.
Setting the Scene: Talking About Today
When we speak about today, we usually describe regular daily habits, current states, or activities happening right now. To do this accurately, English speakers rely on two primary tenses: the Present Simple and the Present Continuous.
1. Present Simple (Habits and Facts) Use the present simple to describe your regular routine or general situation today: "Today, I start work at nine o'clock." "I usually drink green tea, but today I prefer coffee." "She has* a busy schedule today."
2. Present Continuous (Current Actions) Use the present continuous (subject + am/is/are + verb-ing) to talk about what is happening right at this moment or throughout the course of today: "Today, I am working from home." "We are preparing a presentation for this afternoon." "He is feeling* energetic today."
Handy Time Markers for Today Today This morning / this afternoon Right now / at the moment Currently
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Shifting Back: Talking About Yesterday
When you talk about yesterday, the action is completely finished. In English, completed actions in a finished time period require the Past Simple tense. This means your verbs must change form.
1. Regular Past Verbs For regular verbs, simply add -ed to the base verb: "Yesterday, I walked five miles." "They cleaned the entire apartment yesterday afternoon." "She cooked* a delicious dinner for her family."
2. Irregular Past Verbs Many of the most common verbs in English are irregular, meaning they change their spelling entirely in the past simple: go → went: "Yesterday, I went to the supermarket." eat → ate: "I ate oatmeal for breakfast yesterday." see → saw: "We saw an interesting movie yesterday evening." buy → bought: "He bought fresh flowers yesterday." have → had: "I had* two difficult meetings yesterday."
Handy Time Markers for Yesterday Yesterday Yesterday morning / yesterday afternoon Last night (Note: English speakers almost always say "last night" rather than "yesterday night")*
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The Verb "To Be": Today vs. Yesterday
The verb to be is fundamental when describing your feelings, locations, and the weather. Notice how it shifts between today and yesterday:
- Today (am / is / are):
- "I am very tired today."
- "The weather is warm today."
- "They are at the library today."
- Yesterday (was / were):
- "I was very tired yesterday."
- "The weather was rainy yesterday."
- "They were at the library yesterday."
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Asking Questions: Do/Does vs. Did
When asking friendly questions about someone's day, your helper verb (auxiliary verb) must match the time frame you are asking about.
Asking About Today Use do or does with the base form of the verb: "What do you plan to do today?" "Do you have time for a quick chat today?" "Where does* he work today?"
Asking About Yesterday Use did for all subjects, followed by the base form of the verb: "What did you do yesterday?" "Did you finish that report yesterday?" "Where did* you go yesterday evening?"
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Side-by-Side Comparison
Comparing both days directly helps train your brain to switch verb tenses automatically:
- Today: "Today, I eat lunch at my desk because I am busy."
- Yesterday: "Yesterday, I ate lunch in the park with a friend."
- Today: "I feel great today."
- Yesterday: "I felt exhausted yesterday."
- Today: "Do you need help today?"
- Yesterday: "Did you need help yesterday?"
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Common Mistakes to Avoid
1. Using present tense with past time markers: Incorrect: "Yesterday, I go to the gym with my brother." Correct: "Yesterday, I went to the gym with my brother."
2. Double past tense in questions and negatives: Incorrect: "Did you went to the store yesterday?" Correct: "Did you go to the store yesterday?" Incorrect: "I didn't saw him yesterday." Correct: "I didn't see him yesterday." (Remember: Once "did" or "didn't" carries the past tense, the main verb stays in its base form.)
3. Saying "yesterday night": Unnatural: "I watched television yesterday night." Natural: "I watched television last night."
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Practice It Today
Test what you have learned with these three quick exercises. Write your answers down on paper or say them aloud!