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夜以继日 (yè yǐ jì rì) — (idiom) night and day; around the clock; unremitting effort

Definition

Idiom for working 'night and day,' emphasizing relentless hard work — stronger effort than the plain collocation 日夜, which just states time spans.

idiom
night and dayaround the clockunremitting effort

Examples

  • 夜以继日，。
    Tā yè yǐ jì rì dì xiě xiǎo shuō, zhōng yú wán chéng le.
    He wrote the novel night and day and finally finished it.
  • ，夜以继日。
    Wèi le gǎn xiàng mù, dà jiā yè yǐ jì rì dì gōng zuò.
    Everyone worked around the clock to meet the project deadline.
  • 夜以继日。
    Tā gāo kǎo qián jī hū yè yǐ jì rì dì fù xí.
    Before the college entrance exam, she studied night and day.

Origin

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 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape came from a drawing of a person carrying something; in 以, part of that person is still visible on the right.

Open 以 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 繼; 继 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mìrope
Sound part声符shēngfú
㡭
㡭㡭繼jì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 繼 pairs 糸 (rope) with 㡭 as a sound part; an older form may have shown four silk strands. The simplified 继 is only a later shorthand.

Open 继 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

日 originally drew the sun. A mark was added inside to tell it apart from similar square shapes.

Open 日 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Frequency & DurationIdioms & Set Phrases

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