Ago or before?

Question

Dear all

Could you please correct these sentences?

1.What`s the day today? (Is it possible to say which?)

2.What/which day comes in two days/after two days/after monday?

3.What day was yesterday? Can I say the day before?

I know that 'two days ago' is right, but can I also say 'two days before?' What`s the difference between them? I wonder when should I use 'before'.

Can I use 'a day ago' or 'a day before' instead of yesterday?

Thank you

BaldKingOfFrance · Accepted Answer

ninania1.What`s the day today?

I would say "What day is it today?" or "What's the date today".
You can ask "which day is it?", but it has a different meaning. When you ask "which" it implies that you and the listener have a set of days to choose from. When you ask "what", it doesn't imply that.

Another example:
"Which movie did you go and see?" (implies that I know the selection of movies that were available)
"What movie did you see?" (doesn't imply that, I might not know the selection)

ninania2.What/which day comes in two days/after two days/after monday?

I'm not sure exactly what you are asking, but these two sentences are good:

"What day comes in two days?" (means "two days from today")
"What day comes two days after Monday?"

(And you can use which, but with the difference I pointed out above.)

ninania3.What day was yesterday? Can I say the day before?

"What day was it yesterday?" is a perfectly good question.

"What day was it before" only makes sense in the right context. Your listener has to know "before what". Don't just ask this question out of the blue.

Example:

NOT GOOD: The day before I was sick.
(This is bad because there's no context for "before". You have to give some other time first.)

BETTER: I was at school yesterday. The day before I was sick.

(Saying "at school yesterday" sets up a context for the listener. Now they now what "before" means.)

Ago or before?

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