adverb / time noun HSK 5
zhěng
all day long · the whole day · throughout the day

Meaning

整日 means 'all day long' or 'the whole day.' It emphasizes the entirety of a day spent doing something, often with a sense of repetition or exhaustion. The word combines 整 (whole, entire) with 日 (day) to create a time expression that conveys continuous action from morning to night.

Usage

整日 is commonly used in both written and spoken Mandarin to describe activities that occupy an entire day. It often carries a slightly negative or exhausted tone, suggesting someone is doing something continuously without rest. Native speakers frequently use it when complaining about being busy or when describing monotonous routines.

Examples

  1. 01
    整日坐在电脑前工作,连休息都顾不上。
    zhěng zuò zài diànnǎo qián gōngzuò, lián xiūxi dōu shàng.
    He sits in front of the computer working all day long, with no time to even rest.
  2. 02
    孩子们整日在外面玩耍,直到天黑才回家。
    Háizimen zhěng zài wàimiàn wánshuǎ, zhídào tiān hēi cái huí jiā.
    The children play outside all day long and don't come home until dark.

Characters

Common collocations

  • 整日整夜
    zhěng zhěng
    day and night, around the clock
  • 整日忙碌
    zhěng máng
    busy all day long
  • 整日不停
    zhěng tíng
    non-stop all day

Origin

The word combines 整 (whole/complete) with 日 (day), creating a straightforward compound that literally means 'whole day.' This construction pattern is common in Chinese for expressing complete time periods.

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