VocabularyJLPT N5 · core

先月

せんげつ

hepburn sengetsu

last month

Part of speech · noun

Pattern visualization

先before

月moon

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Numbers6 strokes · 4.1s

Numbers4 strokes · 2.7s

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Examples

先月、新しい仕事を始めました。
I started a new job last month.
先月の売り上げは好調でした。
Last month's sales were strong.

Collocations

先月 (sengetsu, last month)来月 (raigetsu, next month)今月 (kongetsu, this month)先々月 (sensengetsu, two months ago)前月 (zengetsu, previous month, formal)

Mnemonic

Sengetsu (先月) is the Sino-Japanese "last month" — 先 (front / earlier) + 月 (month). Partner of raigetsu. The 先 root maps both space ("front," as in sentou = head of a line) and time ("past," as in sengetsu) — a signature Japanese kanji space-time metaphor. Sensei (先生, teacher) follows the same root: 先 (first) + 生 (born) = "one born earlier = elder / mentor." Sensengetsu (two months ago), sensenshuu (two weeks ago) double 先 for further time distance. Formal Sino-Japanese: zengetsu (前月, previous month) — used in business reports and finance as a synonym for sengetsu. Korean "ji-nan dal / jeon-wol / jeon-jeon-wol" parallels.

Quick check

Etymological meaning of sensei?