noun HSK 2
zǎo chén
early morning · morning

Meaning

早晨 refers to the early part of the day, typically from sunrise until around 8 or 9 AM. It's a common time word used in daily conversation to describe when something happens in the morning hours. The word emphasizes the earliness of the morning period.

Usage

早晨 is used in both spoken and written Chinese. It's slightly more formal than 早上 (zǎo shang), though both are widely interchangeable. Native speakers often use it as a greeting (早晨好) or to describe morning routines and activities. It commonly appears with time-related sentence patterns.

Examples

  1. 01
    我每天早晨六点起床。
    měi tiān zǎo chén liù diǎn chuáng.
    I get up at six o'clock every morning.
  2. 02
    早晨的空气很清新。
    Zǎo chén de kōng hěn qīng xīn.
    The morning air is very fresh.

Characters

Measure words

  • 一个早晨

Common collocations

  • 早晨
    zǎo chén hǎo
    good morning
  • 每天早晨
    měi tiān zǎo chén
    every morning
  • 早晨
    zài zǎo chén
    in the morning
  • 早晨起床
    zǎo chén chuáng
    get up in the morning

Antonyms

Origin

Both characters relate to early time periods. 晨 originally depicted the sun rising above the horizon with stars still visible, symbolizing dawn.

Related