Chinese Conversation · Level 22
90 words
Chinese word
深夜
Pronunciation
Pinyinshēn yè
Meaning
- nounlate at night
Example
我经常在深夜工作。wǒ jīng cháng zài shēn yè gōng zuò
I often work late at night.
More examples
深夜里，街道非常安静。shēn yè lǐ jiē dào fēi cháng ān jìng
Late at night, the streets are very quiet.
Core concept
A point late in the night, beyond the usual active hours and often near midnight.
Common phrases
在深夜zài shēn yè
late at night
深夜工作shēn yè gōng zuò
work late at night
深夜加班shēn yè jiā bān
work overtime late at night
深夜时分shēn yè shí fēn
late-night hours
Similar words
午夜wǔ yè: The point or period at about twelve o'clock at night, marking the change from one date to the next.
半夜bàn yè: The middle part of the night, when many people are usually sleeping.
夜里yè lǐ: An everyday spoken term for the night or a certain time during it.
夜间yè jiān: A written term for nighttime as a time division, especially in work schedules or business hours.
Definition in Chinese
夜里最晚的时段，通常指接近或超过午夜、活动和声响明显减少的时间。yè lǐ zuì wǎn de shí duàn tōng cháng zhǐ jiē jìn huò chāo guò wǔ yè huó dòng hé shēng xiǎng míng xiǎn jián shǎo de shí jiān
Word origin
深夜 (shēnyè, "late at night") is formed from 深 (shēn, "deep") + 夜 (yè, "night"), describing a night that has progressed far toward its end.
Usage tips
- For everyday conversation, this word can make an activity sound unusually late, so schedules and arrangements usually add an exact time when timing matters.
Other meanings
- the middle of the nightnoun
- midnightnoun
Opposites
- 白天bái tiāndaytimenoun
- 黎明lí míngdawnnoun
Related words
- 深夜档shēn yè dànglate-night time slotnoun
- 深夜食堂shēn yè shí tánglate-night dinernoun
- 深夜巴士shēn yè bā shìlate-night busnoun