夜よ更ふけ

よ

ふ

け

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

noun

late at night; small hours of the morning

Refers to the deep, quiet hours of the night, typically after midnight. Often used in literary or descriptive contexts.

夜よ更ふけに一人ひとりで散さん歩ぽするのが好すきだ。
I like taking a walk alone late at night.

夜よ更ふけまで仕し事ごとをしていた。

I was working until the small hours of the morning.

Usage patterns

夜よ更ふけに〈動どう詞し〉to do something late at night
夜よ更ふけに電でん話わがかかってきた。
A phone call came in late at night.
夜よ更ふけまで〈動どう詞し〉to do something until late at night
夜よ更ふけまで勉べん強きょうした。
I studied until late at night.
夜よ更ふけの〈事こと〉the [quality/atmosphere] of the late night
夜よ更ふけの静しずけさが好すきだ。
I like the stillness of the late night.

Expressions

夜よ更ふけてlate at night; deep in the night

Kanji

夜night, evening
更grow late, night watch, sit up late
深deep, heighten, intensify

Related words

深しん夜やN3
深夜 is a formal or technical term for late night, often used in schedules and news, while 夜更け has a more poetic, literary feel.
夜よ中なかN3
夜中 refers generally to the middle of the night, while 夜更け emphasizes the deep, late hours when most people are asleep.

Opposites

夜よ明あけN3
夜更け is the deep, late part of the night, while 夜明け is dawn, when night ends and day begins.

Written forms

夜よ更ふけUsage67%
Standard kanji spelling; the most common written form.
夜よふけUsage31%
Mixed kana-kanji spelling, sometimes used for readability.
よふけUsage2%
夜よ深ふけ
Rare variant using 深 instead of 更.

Etymology

Compound of 夜 (yo, 'night') and 更け (fuke, the continuative form of 更ける fukeru, 'to grow late'). The kanji 更 carries the meaning of 'growing late' or 'deepening'.