真夜中
mayonaka[ma̠jo̞na̠ka̠]
Midnight in Japanese is 真夜中 (mayonaka). Wiktionary also lists 夜半 (yahan) and 子夜 (shiya).
Meaning: 12 o'clock at night exactly (noun)
Ways to say it
| Japanese | Romanization (Wiktionary) | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| 真夜中 | mayonaka | [ma̠jo̞na̠ka̠] (narrow) |
| 夜半 | yahan | [ja̠hã̠ɴ] (narrow) |
| 子夜 | shiya | [ɕija̠] (narrow) |
| 正子 | shōshi | [ɕo̞ːɕi] (narrow) |
While 真夜中 describes the middle of the night, when you need to refer to the exact time on a schedule or a clock, it is more common to use 午前零時.
What does it mean word for word?
The word 真夜中 is composed of 真 meaning true or pure, 夜 meaning night and 中 meaning middle.
Which one should you use?
夜半 is a more formal or literary option. For highly literary or archaic contexts, such as classical poetry, 子夜 is used. 正子 is another form for midnight.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
For formal settings, you might use 夜半 or the term Reiji (れいじ). When dealing with precise technical or scheduled times, use 午前零時.
How do you pronounce it?
mayonaka
Did you know?
- In the traditional Japanese system of timekeeping, midnight is associated with the 'Rat' hour, which is why the character 子 appears in the term 子夜.
- While 真夜中 literally means 'true middle of the night', the prefix 真 (ma) is used in Japanese to intensify words, similar to how an English speaker might say 'dead of night'.
- The term 正子 for midnight shares the same characters used in the Korean term 자정 (jajeong), reflecting historical linguistic ties in East Asian timekeeping.
Examples in context
- もう真夜中だ。It's midnight.This sentence shows how to state that it is currently midnight using 真夜中.Tatoeba #3496770 by arnab, translation #456183 by lukaszpp
- トムは真夜中についた。Tom arrived at midnight.This sentence uses 真夜中 to describe the time when someone arrived.Tatoeba #7465217 by Ninja, translation #7464502 by CK
- 彼は真夜中に電話してきた。He rang me up at midnight.This sentence uses 真夜中 to indicate the time a phone call was received.Tatoeba #106027 by small_snow, translation #297659 by Zifre
- 15 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Misaki and Ren are talking about their sleep schedules.
- 美咲 Misakiいつも何時に寝るの？Itsumo nan-ji ni neru no?What time do you usually go to bed?
- 蓮 Renだいたい真夜中になるよ。Daitai mayonaka ni naru yo.It's usually around midnight.
- 美咲 Misakiそれは遅すぎるよ！Sore wa ososugiru yo!That is too late!
- 蓮 Renつい本を読みすぎちゃうんだ。Tsui hon o yomisugichau nda.I just end up reading too much.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “midnight” translations and entries 真夜中, 夜半, 子夜, 正子, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 正子, 真夜中, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
