yesterdays

Yesterdays is the plural form of yesterday and refers to multiple days that have passed prior to the present day. In modern everyday English, yesterday is typically used to denote a single specific day—the day before today. The plural yesterdays is therefore uncommon and is most often found in literary, historical, or rhetorical contexts, where a writer intends to emphasize a span of past days rather than one particular date.

Etymology and formation: The word yesterday comes from Old English, combining a notion of the prior day with the word day. The form yesterdays follows the regular English pattern of adding the plural suffix -s to a noun, producing a plural that signals more than one past day when used. Because it is not a standard unit of time, yesterdays tends to appear only in stylistic or specialized usage.

Usage and examples: In contemporary prose, yesterdays might appear in phrases such as “over the yesterdays of the campaign,” to refer to a sequence of past days, or in poetry where a writer aims to evoke a sense of duration. In most practical communication, speakers and writers would instead say “the past few days,” “on the previous days,” or simply “in the days before today.”

Relationship to related terms: Yesterdays contrasts with yesterday (singular), which designates the immediately preceding day. Related concepts include prior days, past days, and the day before today, which align with standard time-referencing in calendrical contexts.

See also: yesterday, previous day, past days, time in calendars.