How to Write 晚 (wǎn) — Meaning “late / evening”

Imagine the sun (日) is 'exempt' (免) from working after 6 PM, so it goes down – that’s the evening (晚). Or think of a rabbit (兔) that lost its dot because it’s too late for dinner – 晚 has no dot, unlike 兔.

Yes, the right part 免 must be written without a dot – a common mistake is adding a dot like in 兔 (rabbit). Also, the bottom stroke of 免 is a竖弯钩 (vertical-hook) that should curve smoothly, and the top of 日 should be slightly narrower than the bottom.

晚 means 'evening' or 'late' and has the right side 免, while 昜 (yáng, rare) means 'sunlight' and has the right side like 勿 with a horizontal line. 昝 (zǎn, a surname) has a right side that looks like 处 with a dot. They all share the 日 radical but differ in the rest of the character.

晚 is very common for 'evening' (晚上, wǎnshàng) and 'late' (晚了, wǎn le). It also appears in polite phrases like 晚安 (wǎn ān, 'goodnight') and 晚饭 (wǎnfàn, 'dinner'). Culturally, saying 晚安 is a friendly way to end a conversation at night.

Common words containing 晚 include: 晚上 (wǎn shàng) — evening / night; 晚饭 (wǎn fàn) — dinner / supper; 晚安 (wǎn ān) — goodnight.