Meaning
夜晚 refers to the period of time after the sun sets and before it rises again. It emphasizes the darker hours of the night, typically from dusk through late evening to dawn. This is a common, neutral term used in both spoken and written Chinese.
Usage
夜晚 is used in everyday conversation and writing to refer to nighttime in general. It's slightly more formal than 晚上 (wǎnshang), which refers more specifically to the evening hours. Native speakers use 夜晚 when talking about activities, events, or descriptions that happen during the night, especially when emphasizing the darkness or late hour.
Examples
- 01夜晚的城市灯火辉煌。.The city is brilliantly lit at night.
- 02我喜欢在夜晚散步。.I like to take walks at night.
Characters
Measure words
- 个一个夜晚
Common collocations
- 在夜晚at night, during the night
- 寂静的夜晚quiet night
- 漫长的夜晚long night
Antonyms
Origin
Both characters relate to nighttime: 夜 depicts a person resting under a roof at night, while 晚 combines the sun radical with a phonetic component, originally meaning 'late in the day.'