This is the 765th most frequent Russian word.
накануне
The day before; on the eve of.
Here, 'накануне' specifies the time immediately prior to a scheduled trip.
Мы обсуждали планы накануне нашей поездки.
We discussed plans the day before our trip.
In this sentence, 'накануне' emphasizes the temporal placement of past events as occurring the preceding day.
Он вспомнил события, произошедшие накануне.
He recalled the events that happened the day before.
The word 'накануне' is used to indicate 'the day before' an event or specific time, referring to the exam in this context.