夜以继日
yè yǐ jì rì
day and night; round the clock
Character by character
夜yè
night
night
以yǐ
with
with
继jì
continue
continue
日rì
day
day
Example
为了在春节前交货，工厂夜以继日地生产。
To deliver before the Spring Festival, the factory worked round the clock.
Tone: positive (praise).
Usage and origin
From 《孟子》: when the Duke of Zhou met a problem he could not solve, he would go on thinking through the night as well as the day. Used as an adverbial with 地: 夜以继日地工作／攻关. Mostly written; in speech 日夜 (5-15) or 没日没夜.
Learn this in Lesson 124 · HSK 7–9: 人造太阳的一千秒 (Science news: 1,066 seconds of an artificial sun)
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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