早晚 (zǎo wǎn) — (noun) morning and evening; (adverb) sooner or… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

早晚 as a noun means 'morning and evening' (paired timeframe, close in sense to 早晨 'early morning'). As an adverb it means 'sooner or later' — similar to 迟早, but 迟早 is more frequent in this idiomatic sense.

noun

morning and evening

adverb

sooner or laterinevitably

Examples

早晚。
Wǒ zǎo wǎn dōu huì hē yì bēi shuǐ.
I drink a glass of water every morning and evening.
早晚。
Tā zǎo wǎn huì míng bai de.
He will come to understand sooner or later.
早晚。
Nǐ zǎo wǎn huì kàn dào jié guǒ.
You will see the result someday.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

早zǎomorning

晚wǎnevening

早 means morning and 晚 means evening, so the pair can also mean sooner or later.

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

日日rìsun

Sound part声符shēngfú

棗

棗zǎo早zǎo

Same sound today

The form 早 pairs 日 (sun) with 棗, which gives the sound; an earlier shape of 早 was a picture of an acorn.

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

日免晚

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

免

免miǎn晚wǎn

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

晚 pairs 日, the sun part, with 免, which supplies the sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 5 Time (Abstract)Time of Day

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