Meaning of 白天
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- daytime
- during the day
- day
Measure word: 個|个
How to use 白天
白天 is a noun for the hours of daylight, and it often sits before the verb as a time word. It pairs naturally with 晚上 (wǎnshang, evening) to contrast day and night. Example: 我白天工作，晚上学习。(Wǒ báitiān gōngzuò, wǎnshang xuéxí.) I work during the day and study in the evening.
白 (bái) means white or bright, and 天 (tiān) means sky or day. When the sky is white and bright, it is 白天, the daytime.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes use 白天 to mean a calendar day, as in "three days", but that is 三天 (sān tiān), not 三白天. 白天 only means the daylight part of the day, as opposed to night.
白天 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.
白 bái · white · 5 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
天 tiān · day · 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
Related words
Words that share a character with 白天.
| 今天 | jīntiān | today; the present time; now |
| 明白 | míngbai | clear; obvious; unequivocal; sensible; reasonable |
| 明天 | míngtiān | tomorrow |
| 昨天 | zuótiān | yesterday |
| 天气 | tiānqì | weather |
| 星期天 | xīngqītiān | Sunday |
| 后天 | hòutiān | the day after tomorrow; life after birth (the period in which one develops through experie |
| 半天 | bàntiān | half of the day; a long time |
| 前天 | qiántiān | the day before yesterday |
| 夏天 | xiàtiān | summer |
| 白色 | báisè | white; fig. reactionary |
| 春天 | chūntiān | spring (season) |
Questions about 白天
What does 白天 mean?
白天 (báitiān) means "daytime; during the day" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 白天?
白天 is made of 2 characters: 白 (5 strokes), 天 (4 strokes). That is 9 strokes in total.
Is 白天 an HSK word?
Yes. 白天 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the opposite of 白天?
The usual opposite is 晚上 (wǎnshang, evening or night) or 夜里 (yèli, at night). A common pair is 白天和晚上 (báitiān hé wǎnshang), day and night.
Can I say 在白天?
Yes, 在白天 (zài báitiān) is correct and means "in the daytime", but in everyday speech people often drop 在 and just say 白天. For example, 白天很热 (báitiān hěn rè) means it is hot during the day.