How to Write 夜 (yè) — Meaning “Night.”

Imagine the top part 夕 as a crescent moon in the sky, the middle 亻 as a person standing, and the bottom 丶 as a small night star. Picture a person (亻) looking at the moon (夕) and a star (丶) at night—this story helps you recall 夜 means 'night.'

Write the radical 夕 first (three strokes: left-falling, horizontal hook, dot), then the middle 亻 (two strokes: left-falling, vertical), and finally the bottom 丶 (one dot). A common mistake is making the top 夕 too wide or forgetting the dot at the bottom—keep proportions balanced with a slightly narrow top.

夜 means 'night' and has the radical 夕; 夅 (jiàng) is an ancient character meaning 'to descend' or 'to subdue,' now rarely used, and looks like a reversed 夂. 夙 (sù) means 'early morning' or 'long-standing,' with the radical 夕 on top but a different bottom (卩), and it does NOT mean 'night'—it refers to dawn or an early time.

夜 is used in common words like 夜里 (at night), 半夜 (midnight), and 夜晚 (nighttime) to describe the period after sunset. In Chinese culture, night is often associated with calm, reflection, and festivals like the Mid-Autumn Festival (when families admire the full moon at night), making 夜 a poetic character in many idioms and phrases.

Common words containing 夜 include: 夜里 (yè lǐ) — At night; 半夜 (bàn yè) — midnight; 夜晚 (yè wǎn) — Night or nighttime..