Kilo Lingo

(zǎo chén) - early morning, daybreak in Mandarin

zǎochén

Traditional: 早晨

#2070 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

early morning, daybreak

Word origin

A compound of 早 (zǎo, early) and 晨 (chén, dawn, morning), doubling up two morning words for emphasis.

Origin
compound
Root
早 (zǎo, early) + 晨 (chén, dawn)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 早

Stroke order for 晨

Examples

The air in the early morning is very fresh.

He gets up at six every morning.

The streets are quiet in the early morning.

I like reading in the early morning.

There was heavy rain yesterday morning.

早晨 is the early part of the morning, roughly from first light to about nine. It is slightly more written and more northern than 早上, which covers the same ground in ordinary speech across the whole country.

Use it as a time word, which in Mandarin means it goes before the verb, not after: 我早晨去跑步 (I go running in the morning), never 我去跑步早晨. It also takes 在 optionally, so 在早晨 and bare 早晨 are both fine.

For a greeting, stick with 早上好 or just 早. 早晨好 exists but sounds stiff, and in Cantonese-influenced speech 早晨 on its own is itself the greeting, which is a nice thing to recognise but not something to import into your Mandarin.

Where this fits

Used in

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Mandarin · Free printables

早晨: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "早晨" (early morning, daybreak): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

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This word is part of lesson 42.