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夜间 (yè jiān) — nighttime; the period during the night

Definition

夜间 (yèjiān) is a formal written word for 'nighttime,' close to 夜晚 but used more in official or written contexts (signs, schedules). Use 夜 when counting nights as a measure word.

noun
nighttimethe period during the night

Examples

  • 夜间。
    Tā men xuǎn zé zài yè jiān gōng zuò.
    They choose to work at night.
  • 夜间。
    yè jiān De jiē dào hěn ān jìng.
    The streets are quiet at night.
  • 夜间。
    Tā xǐ huan yè jiān kàn shū.
    She likes to read books at night.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

夜yènight
间jiānperiod

夜 (night) and 间 (period) combine to mean the time during the night.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
夕夕xīmoon
Sound part声符shēngfú
亦
亦yì夜yè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The form 夜 pairs 亦 as a sound part with 夕 as a moon part, for night. In the modern shape, the 亦 part is broken up and one stroke merges into 夕.

Open 夜 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 间 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5Time of Day

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