Meaning of 日夜
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- day and night
- around the clock
How to use 日夜
日夜 is a formal or written word, often used as an adverb meaning "day and night" or "around the clock" to stress nonstop effort or worry. Example: 医生们日夜工作。 (Yīshēngmen rìyè gōngzuò.) The doctors work day and night.
日 (rì) is the sun, a box with a line in the middle, so it means day. Put it next to 夜 (yè), night, and you get the whole cycle: sun up, sun down, day and night.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes reverse the order and say 夜日, but Chinese always puts day first in 日夜, just like English "day and night." Also keep 夜 (yè, fourth tone) distinct from 叶 (yè, leaf) and 液 (yè, liquid), which sound the same.
日夜 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.
日 rì · sun · 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
夜 yè · night · 8 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Related words
Words that share a character with 日夜.
Questions about 日夜
What does 日夜 mean?
日夜 (rìyè) means "day and night; around the clock" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 日夜?
日夜 is made of 2 characters: 日 (4 strokes), 夜 (8 strokes). That is 12 strokes in total.
Is 日夜 an HSK word?
Yes. 日夜 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 日夜 and 白天黑夜?
Both mean day and night. 白天黑夜 (báitiān hēiyè) is more spoken and descriptive, while 日夜 is shorter and more literary. It often appears in writing, news, and set phrases.
Is there an idiom with 日夜?
Yes. 日日夜夜 (rìrì yèyè) means "day after day, night after night" and adds emphasis. Another common one is 日以继夜 (rì yǐ jì yè), meaning to work day and night without stopping.