How to Say ‘It's getting late.’ in Simplified Chinese
时间不早了。
shí jiān bù zǎo le
[shir-jyen bù zǎo le]
🇨🇳 In China: This is the polite, standard way to start wrapping up an evening. People usually say it just before announcing they're leaving.
Phrase Breakdown
时间
shí jiān
[shir-jyen]
time
Refers to time in general or a specific time slot or schedule.
你什么时候有时间？
When do you have time?
不早了。
bù zǎo le
is getting late.
不早了 (bù zǎo le) literally means 'it's no longer early', so 'it's getting late'.
已经不早了。
It's already late.
Words in this phrase
不
bù
[bù]
not
Used to form the negative of verbs.
他不想参与。
He does not want to participate.
早
zǎo
[zǎo]
early
Adjective meaning early in time.
他每天起得很早。
He gets up very early every day.
了
le
[le]
change-of-state particle
Used with 快…了 to show something is about to happen.
火车快来了。
The train is about to arrive.
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