早 (zǎo) — early, morning

早 (zǎo)

Means early or pertaining to the morning. Used as an adjective describing time, as an adverb modifying a verb, and as an informal morning greeting (早！ = Morning!). The opposite is 晚 (wǎn, late).

Meanings

1. [adj] Early, not late.
2. [adv] Early on, long ago already.
3. [greeting] Good morning (short for 早上好).

Example Sentences

你今天来得很早。 Nǐ jīntiān lái de hěn zǎo. You arrived very early today.

我早就知道这件事了。 Wǒ zǎo jiù zhīdào zhè jiàn shì le. I knew about this a long time ago.

早！你吃早饭了吗？ Zǎo! Nǐ chī zǎofàn le ma? Morning! Have you had breakfast?

要早点睡，明天还要上班。 Yào zǎo diǎn shuì, míngtiān hái yào shàngbān. Go to sleep earlier. You still have work tomorrow.

Collocations

Memory Hook

早 is made of 日 (sun) over 十 (ten): the sun has barely risen past the ten-mark — it is still 早, early morning.