Chinese Conversation · Level 20
90 words
Chinese word
夜里
Pronunciation
Pinyinyè lǐ
Meaning
- adverbat night
Example
我夜里常常看书。wǒ yè lǐ cháng cháng kàn shū
I often read at night.
More examples
医院夜里也有护士值班。yī yuàn yè lǐ yě yǒu hù shì zhí bān
The hospital also has nurses on duty at night.
Core concept
The nighttime window in which an action or condition takes place, from after dark until daylight.
Common phrases
在夜里zài yè lǐ
at night
夜里工作yè lǐ gōng zuò
work at night
夜里睡觉yè lǐ shuì jiào
sleep at night
Similar words
晚上wǎn shàng: In the evening after night begins and before bedtime, describing an action done at night.
夜间yè jiān: In the nighttime period, describing an event or condition occurring during those hours.
Definition in Chinese
指天黑之后到天亮之前的一段时间，用作副词表示在夜间进行的动作或状态。zhǐ tiān hēi zhī hòu dào tiān liàng zhī qián de yí duàn shí jiān yòng zuò fù cí biǎo shì zài yè jiān jìn xíng de dòng zuò huò zhuàng tài
Word origin
夜里 (yèlǐ, "nighttime") joins 夜 (yè, "night") with 里 (lǐ, "inside"), so its literal picture is time located inside the night.
Usage tips
- English often puts a time phrase at the beginning or end, while Chinese commonly places this one before the verb.
Other meanings
- in the middle of the nightnoun
- late at nightnoun
- nighttimenoun
Opposites
- 白天bái tiānin the daytimeadverb