夜半三更

Chinese

		night	half; semi-; incomplete half; semi-; incomplete; (after a number) and a half	third watch; midnight
simp. and trad. (夜半三更)		夜	半	三更

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): yèbànsāngēng

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄝˋ ㄅㄢˋ ㄙㄢ ㄍㄥ

  (Chengdu, Sichuanese Pinyin): ye⁴ ban⁴ san¹ gen¹

• Cantonese (Jyutping): je⁶ bun³ saam¹ gaang¹

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yèbànsāngēng
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄝˋ ㄅㄢˋ ㄙㄢ ㄍㄥ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yèbànsangeng
    • Wade–Giles: yeh⁴-pan⁴-san¹-kêng¹
    • Yale: yè-bàn-sān-gēng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yehbannsangeng
    • Palladius: ебаньсаньгэн (jebanʹsanʹgɛn)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɛ⁵¹⁻⁵³ pän⁵¹ sän⁵⁵ kɤŋ⁵⁵/
  • (Chengdu)
    • Sichuanese Pinyin: ye⁴ ban⁴ san¹ gen¹
    • Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: iebansangen
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /iɛ²¹³ pan²¹³ san⁵⁵ kən⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: je⁶ bun³ saam¹ gaang¹
    • Yale: yeh bun sāam gāang
    • Cantonese Pinyin: je⁶ bun³ saam¹ gaang¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: yé⁶ bun³ sam¹ gang¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɛː²² puːn³³ saːm⁵⁵ kaːŋ⁵⁵/

Idiom

夜半三更

1. in the middle of the night; late at night
   • 2009, 陳寶華 [Ella Chan], 黃予嬌, 26:34 from the start, in 絕代商驕 [You're Hired]‎^[1], episode 17 (television production), spoken by 麥提爽 [Mak Tai Song] (黃子華 [Dayo Wong]), via TVB:

     夜半三更，無端端走嚟攬我一嘢，你都係驚我唔開心啫。 [Cantonese, trad.]
     夜半三更，无端端走嚟揽我一嘢，你都系惊我唔开心啫。 [Cantonese, simp.]

     je⁶ bun³ saam¹ gaang¹, mou⁴ dyun¹ dyun¹ zau² lai⁴ laam² ngo⁵ jat¹ je⁵, nei⁵ dou¹ hai⁶ geng¹ ngo⁵ m⁴ hoi¹ sam¹ ze¹. [Jyutping]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 半夜三更 (“middle of the night; late at night”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		半夜三更, 三更半夜, 深更半夜, 黑更半夜
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	三更半夜
	Harbin	黑更半夜
	Singapore	三更半夜
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	三更半夜, 半夜三更
Central Plains Mandarin	Luoyang	三更半夜, 半夜三更, 黑更半夜, 黑夜半地兒
	Wanrong	黑漆半夜
	Xining	半夜三更
	Xuzhou	黑天半夜
Lanyin Mandarin	Yinchuan	半夜三更, 三更半夜
	Lanzhou	半夜三更
	Ürümqi	半夜三更, 深更半夜
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	半夜三更, 夜半三更
	Wuhan	深更半夜
	Guiyang	深更半夜
Jianghuai Mandarin	Nanjing	深更半夜, 半夜三更
Cantonese	Guangzhou	半夜三更, 三更半夜
	Hong Kong	半夜三更, 三更半夜
	Taishan	三更半夜
	Dongguan	三更半夜, 半夜三更
Gan	Nanchang	半夜三更
	Lichuan	半夜三更
	Pingxiang	三更半夜
Hakka	Meixian	三更半夜
	Yudu	半夜三更, 三更半夜
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	三更半夜
	Miaoli (Gongguan; N. Sixian)	三光半夜
	Miaoli (Zhuolan; N. Sixian)	三光半夜
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	三光半夜
	Pingtung (Wuluo, Ligang; S. Sixian)	三光半夜
	Kaohsiung (Meinong; S. Sixian)	三光半夜
	Kaohsiung (Shanlin; S. Sixian)	三光半夜
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	三更半夜, 星光半夜, 半夜三更
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	三光半夜, 半夜三更
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	三更半夜, 星光半夜, 半夜三更
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	三更半夜
Huizhou	Jixi	半夜三更, 半夜烏更
Jin	Taiyuan	半夜五更
Northern Min	Jian'ou	半暝三更
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	半暝三更
Southern Min	Xiamen	三更半暝
	Quanzhou	三更半暝
	Jinjiang	三更半暝
	Zhangzhou	三更半暝
	Zhao'an	三更半暝, 半暝三更
	New Taipei (Tamsui)	三更半暝
	New Taipei (Pingxi)	三更半暝
	Kaohsiung	三更半暝
	Kaohsiung (Cijin)	三更半暝
	Kaohsiung (Dalinpu, Siaogang)	三更半暝
	Yilan (Luodong)	三更半暝
	Yilan (Toucheng)	三更半暝
	Tainan	三更半暝
	Tainan (Anping)	三更半暝
	Penghu (Xiyu)	三更半暝
	Singapore (Hokkien)	三更半暝
	Shantou	三更半暝
	Jieyang	三更半暝, 半暝三更
	Haikou	三更半暝
Wu	Shanghai	三更半夜, 半夜三更
	Shanghai (Chongming)	半夜三更
	Suzhou	半夜三更, 成更半夜
	Ningbo	半夜三更, 淨更半夜
	Wenzhou	半夜三更, 三更半夜
	Jinhua	半夜三更
Xiang	Loudi	夜半三深, 半夜三深