夜 (yè) is a Chinese character meaning “night”. It is written from 亠 (lid) and 亻 (person (the form 人 takes on the left)) and 夕 (evening) and ㇏ (falling-right stroke), one above the other, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “night”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
亠 + 亻 + 夕 + ㇏
Top–bottom structure
- 亠 lid · tóu unknown
- 亻 person (the form 人 takes on the left) · rén unknown
- 夕 evening · xī unknown
- ㇏ falling-right stroke unknown
Structure from: hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（现代字形拆分：亠 第1–2笔、亻 第3–4笔、夕 第5–7笔、捺 第8笔）
Memory aid
A lid (亠) pulled over the sky, a person (亻) still outside, the evening moon (夕) already up, and one long falling stroke (㇏) sweeping the last light away to the right — that is 夜, night.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 夜里yè lǐduring the night; at night夜 = yèspoken asyè li
- 半夜bàn yèmidnight; the middle of the night夜 = yè
- 夜莺yè yīngnightingale夜 = yè
- 昼夜zhòu yèday and night; around the clock夜 = yè
Go deeper
All readings
night
night; nighttime; evening
从天黑到天亮的一段时间，与「白天」相对。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 夜里yè lǐduring the night; at night夜 = yèspoken asyè li
- 半夜bàn yèmidnight; the middle of the night夜 = yè
- 夜莺yè yīngnightingale夜 = yè
- 昼夜zhòu yèday and night; around the clock夜 = yè
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 夜 mean?
夜 (yè) means night; nighttime; evening.
How do you pronounce 夜?
It is pronounced yè.
What parts is 夜 made of?
亠 (lid) and 亻 (person (the form 人 takes on the left)) and 夕 (evening) and ㇏ (falling-right stroke), one above the other. The recorded source is: hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（现代字形拆分：亠 第1–2笔、亻 第3–4笔、夕 第5–7笔、捺 第8笔）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 夜 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 夜?
夕. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 夜?
Common ones are 夜里 and 半夜. The reading of 夜 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.