How to Say “Late at night” in Chinese
Time and dates · HSK 2
"Late at night" in Chinese is 深夜 (shēn yè). 深夜 literally means 'deep night'; the hours roughly from 11pm to 2am when the city is quiet. 半夜 (bànyè, 'half night') is the more colloquial cousin and often carries a slight complaint: 他半夜才回家 ('he didn't come home until the middle of the night').
Primary translation
深夜
shēn yè
Variants by register
Casual
半夜
bàn yè
When to use it
深夜 literally means 'deep night'; the hours roughly from 11pm to 2am when the city is quiet. 半夜 (bànyè, 'half night') is the more colloquial cousin and often carries a slight complaint: 他半夜才回家 ('he didn't come home until the middle of the night'). There's also 凌晨 (língchén) for 1–5am. Mainland food-delivery culture means 深夜食堂 (late-night diner) is a real thing; 深夜 has a cozy, almost cinematic feel thanks to the popular Japanese TV drama by that name.
Example sentences
深夜了，别吵醒邻居。
Shēn yè le, bié chǎo xǐng lín jū.
It's late at night, don't wake the neighbors.
我半夜饿了就点外卖。
Wǒ bàn yè è le jiù diǎn wài mài.
When I get hungry late at night, I order delivery.
他经常工作到深夜。
Tā jīng cháng gōng zuò dào shēn yè.
He often works late into the night.