The Meaning of yuube [夕べ] In Japanese

夕べ
ゆうべ
Romaji: yuube N5

What does 夕べ mean?

Translation and Meaning

evening, last night

Definition

夕べ means the evening or night-time period; in contemporary Japanese it is commonly used to refer to events that happened the previous night when read as ゆうべ, while in writing it can simply denote the time of day between late afternoon and night.

Type

noun (名詞)

Stroke Order

Meanings

  • evening, the period from late afternoon to night
  • last night, as a time reference in casual speech
  • poetic or archaic nuance, often used in literary contexts

Etymology

etymology yuube is a native Japanese compound built from 夕 meaning evening, combined with the phonetic suffix べ; the reading shows a lengthened vowel in standard Japanese.

Origin

Historically, 夕べ appears in classical Japanese texts and diaries as a time-denoting noun referring to the evening. Its usage persists in literary contexts and in daily speech with the common reading ゆうべ to mean last night, reflecting long-standing time-marking in the language.

Composition

  • 夕: meaning is ‘evening’; semantic center of the word
  • べ: a phonetic suffix that attaches to the kanji to form a time-denoting noun

Usage

Used as a noun for the evening or night-time; reading is typically ゆうべ in everyday speech, conveying recent-time reference (last night) or a general sense of the evening in more literary or formal contexts; in writing it often carries an older or more poetic tone.
💡 Tips
Mnemonic tip: imagine a setting sun (夕) and say ‘you-be’ as you whisper ‘evening’ to remember that 夕べ refers to the time around sunset or last night.

Variations

  • 今夜 — kon’ya (tonight)
  • 昨夜 — sakuya (last night)
  • 夕暮れ — yūgure (dusk)

Example Phrases

  • 夕べ、近所の人とコーヒーを飲んで話した。
    Yūbe, kinjo no hito to kōhī o nonde hanashita.
    Last night I talked with a neighbor over coffee.
    Lista:
    • 夕べ (yūbe) – last night
    • 近所の人 (kinjo no hito) – neighbor
    • と (to) – with
    • コーヒー (kōhī) – coffee
    • を (o) – object marker
    • 飲んで (nonde) – drinking
    • 話した (hanashita) – talked
    Core: 「夕べ」 is a time expression meaning ‘last night’; it marks when the actions took place.
夕べ