surlendemain

French

Etymology

From sur- +‎ lendemain.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /syʁ.lɑ̃d.mɛ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

surlendemain m (plural surlendemains)

1. Two days later: the day after the next day
   1. Relative to a day implied by the context.

      Ne remets jamais à demain ce que tu peux faire le surlendemain.

      Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.

   2. Relative to a day indicated explicitly, introduced with de.

      Il n’arriva qu’au surlendemain de l’enterrement.

      He didn't arrive until two days after the funeral.

Usage notes

• The noun surlendemain is nearly always introduced by the definite article le; but usage with the indefinite article un is attested as well, giving the meaning “a day two days later”.

Coordinate terms

Dates relative to today in French (layout · text)
	–3	–2	–1	0	+1	+2	+3
direct speech	three days ago	two days ago	yesterday	today	tomorrow	in two days	in three days
	avant-avant-hier	avant-hier	hier	aujourd’hui	demain	après-demain	après-après-demain
reported speech	three days before, three days earlier	two days before, two days earlier	the day before	on that day	the next day	two days later	three days later
	trois jours plus tôt	l’avant-veille	la veille	ce jour-là	le lendemain	le surlendemain	trois jours plus tard

Further reading

• “surlendemain”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.