Stop using ‘последний’ instead of ‘прошлый’

English native speakers often make a common mistake in Russian by inappropriately using the adjective ‘последний’ every time they need to translate the word ‘last.’ Let’s explore situations where we should use the adjective ‘прошлый’ instead.

In the Russian language, ‘последний’ is used when referring to the final occurrence in a series, indicating there won’t be any more after it. For example:

• Последний день недели (Last day of the week)
• Последний вопрос (Final question)

On the other hand, ‘прошлый’ describes something that occurred before the present time, without the implication that there won’t be any more occurrences. For instance:

• Прошлый год (Last year)
• Прошлая неделя (Previous week)

Let’s summarize. ‘Прошлый’ is used when referring to something that occurred before the present time. ‘Последний’ is employed to describe the last or final item in a sequence with the notion that there will be no more after it. 

Correct usage of these two adjectives will help to avoid misunderstanding.