Meaning of 夜间
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- nighttime
- evening or night (e.g. classes)
How to use 夜间
夜间 is a slightly formal word often seen on signs, schedules, news reports and services, such as 夜间航班 (night flights) or 夜间模式 (night mode). Example: 这个公园夜间不开放。(Zhège gōngyuán yèjiān bù kāifàng.) This park is not open at night.
夜 (yè) means night and 间 (jiān) means a span or interval, as in 时间 (shíjiān). Put them together and you get the span of the night, so 夜间 is the nighttime period.
Common mistake: Learners often use 夜间 in casual speech like "I watched TV at night," where 晚上 (wǎnshang) or 夜里 (yèlǐ) sounds more natural. Also keep 间 in the first tone, jiān, not the fourth-tone jiàn used in words like 间断.
夜间 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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间 jiān · between · 7 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 夜间.
| 时间 | shíjiān | (concept of) time; (duration of) time |
| 房间 | fángjiān | room |
| 中间 | zhōngjiān | the middle; the inside; in the middle; within; between; among |
| 洗手间 | xǐshǒujiān | toilet; lavatory |
| 半夜 | bànyè | midnight; in the middle of the night |
| 夜里 | yèlǐ | during the night; at night |
| 卫生间 | wèishēngjiān | bathroom; toilet |
| 民间 | mínjiān | among the people; popular |
| 之间 | zhījiān | (after a noun) between; among; amid; (used after certain bisyllabic words to form expressi |
| 空间 | kōngjiān | space; room; (fig.) scope; leeway |
| 期间 | qījiān | period of time; time |
| 人间 | rénjiān | the human world; the earth |
Questions about 夜间
What does 夜间 mean?
夜间 (yèjiān) means "nighttime; evening or night (e.g. classes)" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 夜间?
夜间 is made of 2 characters: 夜 (8 strokes), 间 (7 strokes). That is 15 strokes in total.
Is 夜间 an HSK word?
Yes. 夜间 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 夜间 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 夜间 is written 夜間.
What is the difference between 夜间 and 晚上?
晚上 (wǎnshang) is the everyday word for evening and night and is used constantly in conversation. 夜间 is more formal and written, and it often modifies another noun, as in 夜间课程 (evening classes).
Can 夜间 be placed directly before another noun?
Yes, it commonly works like an adjective without needing 的, for example 夜间服务 (night service) or 夜间施工 (nighttime construction). It can also stand alone as a time word, as in 夜间气温很低 (temperatures are low at night).