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晚班 (wǎn bān) — night shift (work period); evening class (course schedule)

Definition

晚班 covers two distinct schedules that share the 'evening/night' idea: a night shift at work and an evening class. Use 上晚班 for working the shift; 报晚班 for signing up for a class.

noun
night shift (work period)evening class (course schedule)

Examples

  • 晚班。
    Tā zhè zhōu shàng wǎn bān.
    He is on the night shift this week.
  • 晚班，。
    Tā měi tiān zhí wǎn bān, hěn xīn kǔ.
    She works the night shift every day, and it's very tiring.
  • 晚班。
    Wǒ zài yǔ yán xué xiào bào le wǎn bān.
    I signed up for the evening class at the language school.

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.

晚wǎnevening/late
班bānshift/class

晚 'evening' and 班 'shift/class' give a work period or class in the evening.

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rì
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.

Open 晚 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 珏珏juépieces of jade
  • 刀刀dāoknife

班 shows 珏, pieces of jade, and 刀, a knife, cutting them into pieces.

Open 班 →
Appears in
Time of DayWorkplace & Office

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