朝A夕B／朝A暮B
in the morning A, in the evening B: all day long, or changing from one day to the next
Structure
朝 A 夕／暮 B
What it means
朝 zhāo (morning) and 夕／暮 (evening) mark a day's two ends: with related words, 'all day, constantly' (朝思暮想); with contrasts, 'changing within a day' (朝令夕改).
How it is built
朝 + A + 夕／暮 + B, used only as set phrases: 政策朝令夕改，企业不知道该怎么办 (The rules change from one day to the next, and businesses don't know what to do).
When to use it
Set phrases of written Chinese: 朝晖夕阴 (morning sun, evening gloom), 朝三暮四 (6-2, now 'fickle'), 朝不保夕 (a precarious life).
Watch out
Read 朝 zhāo here, not cháo as in 朝代. Use the set phrases; do not coin new ones from everyday words.
Examples
朝晖夕阴，气象万千。
Morning sun and evening shade, a scene of ten thousand changes. (范仲淹《岳阳楼记》)
离家多年，他朝思暮想的就是母亲做的那碗面。
Years away from home, what he longed for day and night was the bowl of noodles his mother used to make.
政策朝令夕改，企业根本不知道该怎么办。
The rules change from one day to the next, and businesses simply don’t know what to do.
Learn this in Lesson 229 · HSK 9+: 课本里的古文 (Classical prose from the school textbook)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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