半夜三更

bànyèsāngēng
idiom #25,671

Meanings

  1. 1 the dead of night
  2. 2 in the middle of the night
  3. 3 the small hours

Examples

Dōu bànyè sāngēng le, nǐ zěnme hái méi shuì?
It's the dead of night — why haven't you gone to sleep yet?
Tā bànyè sāngēng pǎo lái qiāo mén, bǎ wǒ xià le yī tiào.
He came knocking in the middle of the night and gave me a fright.

Tips

history
refers to the third of the five night watches in the traditional Chinese timekeeping system, corresponding to roughly 11 PM–1 AM — the deepest part of the night.

Stroke Order

bàn
sān
gèng