Meaning of 夜
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- night
- variant of 夜[ye4]
How to use 夜
夜 (yè) usually appears in compounds rather than alone, such as 夜里 (yèlǐ, at night), 半夜 (bànyè, midnight) and 日夜 (rìyè, day and night). For example: 他昨天半夜才睡。(Tā zuótiān bànyè cái shuì.) He only went to bed in the middle of the night yesterday.
Look inside 夜 (yè) and you can find 夕 (xī), a shape that means evening, tucked under a roof-like top. Think of evening settling in under the roof as night falls.
Common mistake: Learners often write the right side like 文 or forget the small dot inside, so compare it carefully with 液 (yè, liquid), which adds the water radical 氵. Also keep the fourth tone. Saying yē or yé sounds wrong.
夜 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
夜 yè · night · 8 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 夜.
| 半夜 | bànyè | midnight; in the middle of the night |
| 夜里 | yèlǐ | during the night; at night |
| 夜间 | yèjiān | nighttime; evening or night (e.g. classes) |
| 黑夜 | hēiyè | night |
| 日夜 | rìyè | day and night; around the clock |
| 开夜车 | kāi yèchē | to burn the midnight oil; to work late into the night |
| 夜晚 | yèwǎn | night |
| 夜总会 | yèzǒnghuì | nightclub; nightspot |
| 深夜 | shēnyè | very late at night |
| 夜班 | yèbān | night shift |
| 熬夜 | áoyè | to stay up late or all night |
| 夜校 | yèxiào | evening school; night school |
Questions about 夜
What does 夜 mean?
夜 (yè) means "night" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 夜?
夜 is made of 1 character: 夜 (8 strokes). That is 8 strokes in total.
Is 夜 an HSK word?
Yes. 夜 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 夜 and 晚上?
晚上 (wǎnshang) is the everyday word for evening and night in speech. 夜 (yè) by itself sounds more written or literary, so in conversation people say 夜里 or 晚上 instead of using 夜 alone.
What does 开夜车 mean? Is it about driving?
Literally it means to drive a night car, but it is usually used figuratively to mean staying up late to work or study. For example, 考试前他常常开夜车 means he often pulls all-nighters before exams.