haa6 ng5下午

Jyutpinghaa6 ng5

Yalehah ńgh

名詞Common

Definition

Afternoon, from noon until sunset; also used to indicate p.m.

afternoon; the period from noon to sunset
p.m.; the twelve hours after noon and before midnight

neutraltime

How it's used

Refers specifically to the period between lunch and evening, roughly from 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM. While standard in writing, it is equally common in daily speech to use the more colloquial 下晝 to refer to this same time frame. Using 下午 sounds slightly more formal or professional, often appearing in business emails or scheduled appointments.

Examples

nei5你haa6下ng5午jau5有mou5冇si4時gaan3間ceot1出lai4嚟jam2飲bui1杯je5嘢？

Do you have time to come out for a drink this afternoon?

ngo5我sing4成go3個haa6下ng5午dou1都喺hai2屋uk1企kei2執zap1屋。

I spent the whole afternoon tidying up at home.

Common phrases

haa6下ng5午caa4茶

afternoon tea

sing4成go3個haa6下ng5午

the whole afternoon

Common mistake

Learners often confuse 下午 with 下晝. While they are interchangeable in meaning, 下晝 is the preferred term in casual, spoken Cantonese, whereas 下午 is more common in formal or written contexts.