WAN-3

('wan' in the third tone)

There are some 42 standard Chinese characters with a 'wan' pronunciation. Major sound-indicating components are: 元 (11 occurences), 宛 (14),

晚 = evening, late, later

Which of the three meanings applies, depends on the context.

晚安! = wan(3) an(1)! = Good evening!

晚上好! = wan(3)shang(-) hao(3)! = Good evening 

The antonym to 晚 is:

早 = zao(3) = morning, early, earlier

早安! = zao(3) an(1)! = Good morning!

早上妤! = zao(3)shang(-) hao(3) = Good morning!

Informally, one can just say:

早! = zao(3)! = Morning!

While the obove-cited morning greetings can be abbreviated into just 早, this option does not exist for 晚.

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Even though 早 means morning, and  晚 means evening, you cannot just integrate either of these words into sentences, and expect it to have this meaning.  The 早 and 晚 would rather be understood as 'early' and 'late'.

现在已经晚了. = Xian(4)zai(4)yi(3)jing(-) wan(3) le(-). = It's already late now.

已经晚了. = Yi(3)jing(-) wan(3) le(-). = It's already late.

现在还早呢. = Xian(4)zai(4) hai(2) zao(3) ne(-). = It is still early now.

The 呢 can be added for emphasis in sentences that do not end with 了 as past tense indicator, but it is not a necessity.

现在还早. = Xian(4)zai(4) hai(2) zao(3). = It is still early now.

还早呢. = Hai(2) zao(3) ne(-). = It is still early.

还早. = Hai(2) zao(3). = It is still early.

For the meanings 'morning' and 'evening', the two-character versions ought to be used.

晚上 = wan(3)shang(-) = evening

早上 = zao(3)shang(-) = morning

已经晚上了. = Yi(3)jing(-) wan(3)shang(-) le(-). = It's already evening.

还早上呢. = Hai(2) zao(3)shang(-) ne(-). = It is still morning.

你明天晚上过来. = Ni(3) ming(2)tian(1) wan(3)shang(-) guo()lai(2). = You come tomorrow evening.

我们明天早上见面. = Wo(3)men(-) ming(2)tian(1) zao(3)shang(-) jian(4) mian(4). = We meet tomorrow morning.

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As mentioned on many occasions, modern Chinese tends to form two-character units. These units can either be two-character words, or expressions of two single-character words, which are so common that they are easily understood. The following are two examples, involving the words 早 and 晚.

晚到 = wan(3) dao(4) = to arrive late (too late)

早到 = zao(3) dao(4) = to arrive early (too early)

你晚到了. = Ni(3) wan(3) dao(4) le(-). = You are (arrived) late (too late).

你早到了. = Ni(3) zao(3) dao(4) le(-). = You are (arrived) early (too early).

In most cases, the concept of 'too' is expressed in the modern Chinese language by the character / morpheme 太 = tai(4). Example:

太贵 = tai(4) gui(4) = too expensive

However, the meaning of 早 includes 'early' as well as 'earlier' and 'too early', but not 'earliest', and the meaning of 晚 includes 'late', 'later', and 'too late', but not 'latest'.

Therefore, the following do NOT exist:更晚, 太晚, 更早, 太早 .

But the following do: 最晚, 最早

他最晚到了. = Ta(1) zui(4)wan(3) dao(4) le(-). = He arrived last.

你最军到了. = Ni(3) zui(4)zao(3) dao(4) le(-). = You arrived earliest.

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晚一点 and 早一点

Polite forms of many adverbial sentences and expressions can be formed by adding 一点 after the adverb.

The literal translation of 一点 would be 'a little', but the function is better captivated by 'please'.

快一点! = Kuai(4) yi(1)dian(3)! = Fast, please! (Lit.'Fast a little')

你晚一点过来! = Ni(3) wan(3) yi(1)dian(3) guo(4)lai(2)! = Please come later!

The Chinese word for 'please' can be added to sound even more polite.

请你晚一点过夹! = Qing(3) ni(3) wan(3) yi(1)dian(3) guo(4)lai(2)! = Please come a litttle later!

Sometimes, 早一点 and 晚一点 are choosen instead of 早 and 晚 not out of gramatical necessity, but just because it sounds more pleasant. Elongation of 早 into 早一点 and 晚 into 晚一点 also has the advantage of eliminating possible ambiguity that may arise from the fact that in Chinese, every word can mean so many different things.

你可以塔晚一点的巴士. = Ni(3) ke(3)yi(3) da(1) wan(3) yi(1) dian(3)de(-) ba(1)shi(4). = You can take a later bus.

你可以塔早一点的巴士. = Ni(3) ke(3)yi(3) da(1) zao(3) yi(1) dian(3)de(-) ba(1)shi(4). = You can take an earlier bus.