Definition
开夜车 literally means 'drive a night car', but it's a fixed expression meaning to stay up late working or studying — like 'burning the midnight oil'. It's a separable verb (离合词): you can insert words like 了, 过, or duration between 开 and 夜车, e.g. 开了三天夜车 ('worked late three nights in a row'). You don't use 开夜车 with a direct object; it's intransitive.
v.o.
to burn the midnight oilto work or study late into the night
Examples
- 开夜车。Kǎoshì qián tā tiāntiān kāi yè chē.He burned the midnight oil every day before the exam.
- 。Wǒ zuówǎn kāi le sān ge xiǎoshí yèchē cái xiě wán bàogào.I worked late for three hours last night to finish the report.
- 开夜车，。Bié zǒng kāi yè chē, duì shēntǐ bù hǎo.Don't always stay up late working — it's bad for your health.
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