半夜
bàn yè
Pinyin

Definition

半夜
 - 
bàn yè
  1. midnight
  2. in the middle of the night

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

一半
yī bàn
  1. 1 half
夜
yè
  1. 1 variant of 夜[yè]
半
bàn
  1. 1 half
  2. 2 semi-
  3. 3 incomplete
  4. 4 (after a number) and a half
半夜
bàn yè
  1. 1 midnight
  2. 2 in the middle of the night
夜店
yè diàn
  1. 1 nightclub
夜间
yè jiān
  1. 1 nighttime
  2. 2 evening or night (e.g. classes)
年夜饭
nián yè fàn
  1. 1 New Year's Eve family dinner
三更半夜
sān gēng bàn yè
  1. 1 in the depth of the night
  2. 2 very late at night
上半年
shàng bàn nián
  1. 1 first half (of a year)
下半年
xià bàn nián
  1. 1 second half of the year
今夜
jīn yè
  1. 1 tonight
  2. 2 this evening
前夜
qián yè
  1. 1 the eve
  2. 2 the night before
午夜
wǔ yè
  1. 1 midnight
半场
bàn chǎng
  1. 1 half of a game or contest
  2. 2 half-court
半天
bàn tiān
  1. 1 half of the day
  2. 2 a long time
  3. 3 quite a while
  4. 4 midair
  5. 5 CL:個|个[gè]
半岛
bàn dǎo
  1. 1 peninsula
半死
bàn sǐ
  1. 1 half dead (of torment, hunger, tiredness etc)
  2. 2 (tired) to death
  3. 3 (terrified) out of one's wits
  4. 4 (beaten) to within an inch of one's life
  5. 5 (knock) the daylights out of sb
半决赛
bàn jué sài
  1. 1 semifinals
半路
bàn lù
  1. 1 halfway
  2. 2 midway
  3. 3 on the way
半点
bàn diǎn
  1. 1 the least bit

Idioms (20)

一瓶子不响，半瓶子晃荡
yī píng zi bù xiǎng , bàn píng zi huàng dang
  1. 1 lit. a full bottle makes no sound; a half-filled bottle sloshes (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. empty vessels make the most noise
一知半解
yī zhī bàn jiě
  1. 1 lit. to know one and understand half (idiom); a smattering of knowledge
  2. 2 dilettante
  3. 3 amateur
一鳞半爪
yī lín bàn zhuǎ
  1. 1 lit. one scale and half a claw (idiom); only odd bits and pieces
事半功倍
shì bàn gōng bèi
  1. 1 half the work, twice the effect (idiom); the right approach saves effort and leads to better results
  2. 2 a stitch in time saves nine
俾夜作昼
bǐ yè zuò zhòu
  1. 1 lit. to make night as day (idiom); fig. to burn the midnight oil
  2. 2 work especially hard
俾昼作夜
bǐ zhòu zuò yè
  1. 1 to make day as night (idiom, from Book of Songs); fig. to prolong one's pleasure regardless of the hour
半推半就
bàn tuī bàn jiù
  1. 1 half willing and half unwilling (idiom); to yield after making a show of resistance
半瓶水响叮当
bàn píng shuǐ xiǎng dīng dāng
  1. 1 lit. if you tap a half-empty bottle it makes a sound (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. empty vessels make the most noise
  3. 3 one who has a little knowledge likes to show off, but one who is truly knowledgeable is modest
半真半假
bàn zhēn bàn jiǎ
  1. 1 (idiom) half true and half false
半途而废
bàn tú ér fèi
  1. 1 to give up halfway (idiom); leave sth unfinished
半通不通
bàn tōng bù tōng
  1. 1 to not fully understand (idiom)
夙夜匪懈
sù yè fěi xiè
  1. 1 to work from morning to night (idiom)
夙兴夜寐
sù xīng yè mèi
  1. 1 to rise early and sleep late (idiom); to work hard
  2. 2 to study diligently
  3. 3 to burn the candle at both ends
夜不归宿
yè bù guī sù
  1. 1 to stay out all night (idiom)
夜不闭户
yè bù bì hù
  1. 1 lit. doors not locked at night (idiom); fig. stable society
夜以继日
yè yǐ jì rì
  1. 1 night and day (idiom); continuous strenuous effort
夜深人静
yè shēn rén jìng
  1. 1 in the dead of night (idiom)
夜行昼伏
yè xíng zhòu fú
  1. 1 to travel at night and lie low by day (idiom)
夜郎自大
Yè láng zì dà
  1. 1 lit. Yelang thinks highly of itself (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. foolish conceit
夜阑人静
yè lán rén jìng
  1. 1 the still of the night (idiom)
  2. 2 late at night

Sample Sentences

真好，我到半夜还睡不着。
zhēn hǎo ，wǒ dào bànyè hái shuì bu zháo 。
Great, I couldn't sleep until the middle of the night.
Go to Lesson 
当年精力可真充沛，三更半夜还精神抖擞，通宵一夜第二天还能直接去上课。
dāngnián jīnglì kě zhēn chōngpèi ，sāngēngbànyè huán jīngshéndǒusǒu ，tōngxiāo yìyè dìèrtiān hái néng zhíjiē qù shàngkè 。
At that time, energy levels were very high. In the middle of the night, I was still full of energy and I could go to class the next day.
Go to Lesson 
昨天半夜我和朋友出去吃宵夜，我吃了一碗牛肉面，我们还点了一些小菜，喝了一些啤酒。
zuótiān bànyè wǒ hé péngyou chūqù chī xiāoyè ，wǒ chī le yī wǎn niúròumiàn ，wǒmen hái diǎn le yīxiē xiǎocài ，hē le yīxiē píjiǔ 。
Last night at midnight, I went out to eat a snack with friends, I ate a bowl of beef noodles. We also ordered some side dishes and drank some beer.
Go to Lesson 
我在家里很少做家事，晚上却玩到半夜才回家。
wǒ zài jiālǐ hěn shǎo zuò jiāshì ，wǎnshang què wán dào bànyè cái huíjiā 。
I rarely do household chores, but I stayed outside until midnight.
Go to Lesson 
卓文君爱上了一个只见过一次面的人，半夜跟着他私奔，在古代中国是很少见的。
zhuówénjūn àishàng le yī gè zhī jiàn guò yīcì miàn de rén ，bànyè gēn zhe tā sībēn ，zài gǔdài Zhōngguó shì hěn shǎojiàn de 。
Zhuo Wen Jun fell in love with someone she met once and eloped with him in the middle of the night. This was very rare in ancient China.
Go to Lesson 
儿子又不是我一个人的，已经好几天都这样半夜哭个不停，都是我一个人照顾！你也不帮忙！
érzi yòu bú shì wǒ yí ge rén de ，yǐjīng hǎojǐ tiān dōu zhèyàng bànyè kūgebùtíng ，dōu shì wǒ yí ge rén zhàogu ！nǐ yě bù bāngmáng ！
It's not just my son, you know. He's been crying in the middle of the night on and on like this for several days now and it's all been up to me to look after him! I don't get any help from you!
Go to Lesson 
说得好！今天半夜十二点，一块儿来“移山”吧！
shuōdehǎo ！jīntiān bànyè shí èr diǎn ，yíkuàir5 lái “yí shān ”ba ！
Well said! Tonight at twelve midnight, let's move the "mountain" together!
Go to Lesson 
别的书店十点就打烊了，全市只有我们到半夜十二点还在忙。
biéde shūdiàn shí diǎn jiù dǎyáng le ，quánshì zhǐyǒu wǒmen dào bànyè shí èr diǎn háizài máng 。
Other bookstores close at 10, in the whole city only ours is still busy at 12 at night.
Go to Lesson 
当初我也是觉得很酷才来应征的，但是仔细想想，书店开二十四小时有什么意义？谁半夜来看书啊。
dāngchū wǒ yě shì juéde hěn kù cái lái yīngzhēng de ，dànshì zǐxì xiǎngxiang ，shūdiàn kāi èrshísì xiǎoshí yǒu shénme yìyì ？shéi bànyè lái kàn shū ā 。
I thought it was cool and that's one of the reasons I first applied, but thinking about it, what's the point of having a bookstore open twenty-four hours? Who comes to read in the middle of the night.
Go to Lesson 
我昨天半夜两点就睡了。
wǒ zuótiān bànyè liǎng diǎn jiù shuì le 。
I managed to get to sleep by two in the morning last night.
Go to Lesson