Definition
凌晨 (língchén) refers to the small hours of the night — roughly from midnight until dawn. It contrasts with 深夜 ('deep night,' around midnight) and 早晨 ('morning,' after dawn). Unlike the more poetic 清晨 or the colloquial 一早, 凌晨 is used with specific clock times (e.g., 凌晨三点 '3 a.m.').
noun
very early in the morningthe wee hours (typically from around midnight to dawn)
Examples
- 凌晨，。líng chén de jiēdào hěn ānjìng, jīhū méiyǒu xíngrén.The streets are very quiet in the early morning, with almost no pedestrians.
- 凌晨。Tā měitiān líng chén sì diǎn bàn jiù qǐlái pǎobù.He gets up for a run at 4:30 every morning.
- 凌晨。Wǒmen yìzhí gōngzuò dào líng chén liǎng diǎn cái xiūxi.We worked until two in the morning before resting.
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