夜间 yèjiān nighttime
nighttime; evening or night (e.g. classes)
How to remember 夜间: 夜 night + 间 room = nighttime.
Characters
How it is used
- 夜间 (yèjiān) means "nighttime," used in a formal or technical register - schedules, regulations, signage.
- Common collocations: 夜间飞行 (yèjiān fēixíng, night flight), 夜间施工 (nighttime construction), 夜间部 (yèjiānbù, evening division of a school).
- For everyday speech about "at night," 晚上 (wǎnshang) is the natural word - 夜间 sounds like it belongs on a sign or in an announcement rather than in casual chat.
- Often functions as an attributive modifier before a noun rather than standing alone.