Definition
半夜 (bànyè) means 'midnight' or 'the middle of the night' — it refers specifically to the time around 12 a.m. 夜 (yè) is the general word for 'night' as a period, while 深夜 (shēnyè) means 'very late at night' (often after midnight).
the middle of the nightmidnight
Examples
- 半夜。Tā měitiān gōngzuò dào bàn yè.He works until midnight every day.
- 半夜。bàn yè tūrán xià qǐ le dà yǔ.In the middle of the night, it suddenly started raining heavily.
- 半夜。Wǒmen liáo dào bàn yè cái shuìjiào.We chatted until midnight before going to sleep.
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