dāng tiān
that day
当天晚上，他去了医院。
Dāngtiān wǎnshàng, tā qùle yīyuàn.
That night, he went to the hospital.
当天，他们举行了一个派对。
Dāngtiān, tāmen jǔxíngle yīgè pàiduì.
That day, they held a party.
当天，他收到了一个包裹。
Dāngtiān, tā shōudàole yīgè bāoguǒ.
That day, he received a package.
昨天 (zuótiān)
yesterday
明天 (míngtiān)
tomorrow
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The Chinese word 当天 (dāngtiān) is composed of two characters: 当 (dāng) and 天 (tiān). The character 当 originally meant "to face" or "to be opposite to", and later extended to mean "current" or "present". The character 天 originally meant "sky" or "heaven", and later extended to mean "day". When combined, the two characters 当天 literally mean "facing the day" or "on the same day". In modern Chinese, 当天 is used to refer to the current day or the same day. For example, 当天早上 (dāngtiān zǎoshang) means "this morning" and 当天下午 (dāngtiān xiàwǔ) means "this afternoon".
