How to say “early morning” in Chinese
early morning (before dawn)
“Early morning” in Chinese is 凌晨, líng chén: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke.
How to pronounce it
凌晨 is read líng chén: 2 syllables. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
On the left, 冫 “ice”. In 冰激凌 it was chosen for its sound.
On top, 日 “sun”; at the bottom, 辰 chén hints at the sound. In 早晨 it's read in the neutral tone: chen.
Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “凌晨”.
More words from the lesson “From dawn to late at night”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “early morning” in Chinese?
“Early morning” in Chinese is 凌晨, pinyin língchén.
What does 凌晨 mean?
凌晨 (língchén) means “early morning (before dawn)”.
How do you write 凌晨?
凌晨 is 2 characters: 凌 (líng) — part of “ice cream”; 晨 (chén) — morning. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 凌晨?
凌晨 is read língchén. Tones: líng — second tone, chén — second tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“early morning” in the lesson “From dawn to late at night”
This word is from the topic “Time and deadlines” of HSK 6. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.
Start for free