n.
daytime; day
白天
daytime; day
Daytime or broad daylight (白 white/bright + 天 sky/day); daytime hours as opposed to night (晚上).
Common Usage & Traps
- 白天的时候 — during the daytime; the most common natural cushion in a full sentence
- 白天上班 — work during the day, usually a day shift
- 白天睡觉 — sleep during the day, often for night-shift life or naps
- 今天白天 — today during the day; 今天 and 白天 stack naturally
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在白天白天 / 白天的时候English says in the daytime, so learners add 在. Natives usually drop it and put 白天 before the verb. 在白天 is understandable, but it sounds like a textbook translation.
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三个白天三天白天 is the daylight part of a day, not a countable day. Use 天 when counting days.
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我睡觉白天我白天睡觉Chinese time phrases normally come before the verb. Putting 白天 after the verb sounds like the sentence fell over.
Why does 在白天 sound off when 白天 already means during the day?
白天 already means during the day, so 在白天 usually sounds textbook-ish.
English says in the daytime, so learners often add 在 before 白天. Natives normally treat 白天 like 今天 or 早上 and put it before the verb. 在白天 is understandable, but it sounds like a careful translation instead of daily speech. If you want a natural cushion, say 白天的时候. As seen in 《很贵的苹果》, the sentence starts 今天白天的时候, with no 在. That is the everyday pattern.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| With 在 | 白天我去超市 | 在白天我去超市 |
| Natural cushion | 白天的时候我去超市 | 在白天的时候我去超市 |
| Daily feel | 白天上班，白天睡觉 | 在白天上班，在白天睡觉 |
What's the difference between 白天 and 今天?
今天 is a date; 白天 is daylight. They stack as 今天白天, not swap.
今天 means today, a specific date on the calendar. 白天 means daytime, the light part of any day. They are not rivals; they stack naturally as 今天白天. As seen in 《很贵的苹果》, 今天白天的时候，我去我家这边的超市买东西, both words work together. If you swap them to 白天今天, it sounds like scrambled English.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | 今天 = today, 白天 = daytime | treating both as just day |
| Stacking | 今天白天我去超市 | 白天今天我去超市 |
| Story sentence | 今天白天的时候我去超市 | 白天今天的时候我去超市 |
Where does 白天 go when you say you sleep during the day?
Put 白天 before the verb: 我白天睡觉, not 我睡觉白天.
Chinese time phrases usually sit before the verb. So a night-shift worker says 我白天睡觉. If you say 我睡觉白天, it sounds like the sentence fell over at the end. With 的时候, you can also say 白天的时候我睡觉. The safe pattern is 白天 + action, not action + 白天.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Night shift | 我白天睡觉 | 我睡觉白天 |
| Time before verb | 白天他去超市 | 他去超市白天 |
| With 的时候 | 白天的时候他睡觉 | 他睡觉白天的时候 |
Does 白天 mean a countable day, like in 三个白天?
白天 is not a countable day. Use 天 for counting days.
白天 is the daylight chunk of a day, not a countable unit. To count days, use 天: 三天, 五天, 十天. 三个白天 sounds like you are counting sunrises or daylight shifts. If you mean a full day, say 三天. If you mean daytime, say 白天. Keep those jobs separate.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Counting days | 三天 | 三个白天 |
| Daytime | 白天上班 | 三天上班 meaning daytime |
| Full day vs daylight | 我住了三天 | 我住了三个白天 |
Appears in Stories 2 stories
Real context sentences across different daily scenarios and graded readings.
Read about a work trip to Beijing where a group of colleagues takes a very large airplane. Practice weather words and actions in a simple travel story.
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我们下飞机的时候是 白天 ，但是天气有一点儿冷。
This short, simple story follows a shopper's trip to the supermarket to buy apples. You'll learn useful vocabulary for shopping, prices, and comparing things.
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今天 白天 的时候，我去我家这边的超市买东西。
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