清晨

qīng chén

early morning

HSK Level 5

Example Sentences

清晨,我早早地起床了。

qīng chén, wǒ zǎo zǎo de qǐ chuáng le.

In the early morning, I got up early.

清晨的空气很清新。

qīng chén de kōng qì hěn qīng xīn.

The air in the early morning is very fresh.

我喜欢在清晨散步。

wǒ xǐ huan zài qīng chén sàn bù.

I like to take a walk in the early morning.

Synonyms

拂晓 (fúxiǎo)

dawn

黎明 (límíng)

daybreak

Antonyms

黄昏 (huánghūn)

dusk

傍晚 (bàngwǎn)

evening

Etymology & Components

The Chinese word 清晨 (qīngchén) for "dawn" or "early morning" is composed of two characters: 清 (qīng) and 晨 (chén). The character 清 originally meant "clear" or "pure", and was often used to describe the sky or water. Over time, it came to be used more broadly to mean "bright" or "fresh", and is now commonly used to describe the early morning hours when the sky is clear and the air is fresh. The character 晨 originally meant "morning", and was often used in combination with other characters to describe different times of the day. For example, the character 旦 (dàn) was used to describe the early morning, while the character 暮 (mù) was used to describe the evening. Over time, the character 晨 came to be used more specifically to refer to the early morning hours, and is now commonly used to describe the time between sunrise and noon.

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