san4晨
Jyutpingsan4
Yalesàhn
Definition
Early morning or dawn.
colloquialtime
How it's used
Used primarily in compound words or specific colloquial phrases to denote the very early part of the day. When used in the phrase 晨咁早, it acts as an intensifier to emphasize how unusually or annoyingly early a time is. It feels more literary or formal when standing alone, so native speakers prefer 朝頭早 or 晏晝 for general time references.
Examples
Why are you going for a run so early in the morning?
Related words
Common mistake
Avoid using 晨 as a standalone noun in casual speech, as it sounds poetic or archaic. Use 朝頭早 instead for everyday conversation.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
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Connector
Grammar guides
- In 30 secondsThe whole language at a glance. No tenses, no plurals, six tones, sentence particles. Read this before you dive into any specific topic.
- ParticlesSentence particles add tone, emotion, and nuance. Learn the most common particles in Cantonese and how to use them.
- Possession (嘅)How to say my, your, and his, and how to link a describing word to a noun, all with the little word 嘅 (ge3).
