Dates in Chinese
Learn how to talk about month, day, year.
Year
The year follows this format: each digit of the year + 年. Here are examples:
| Chinese | English |
|---|---|
| 二零零八年 èr líng líng bā nián | 2008 |
| 二零二四年 èr líng èr sì nián | 2024 |
Month
Months are: number month + 月. Here are all the months:
| Chinese | English |
|---|---|
| 一月 yī yuè | January |
| 二月 èr yuè | February |
| 三月 sān yuè | March |
| 四月 sì yuè | April |
| 五月 wǔ yuè | May |
| 六月 liù yuè | June |
| 七月 qī yuè | July |
| 八月 bā yuè | August |
| 九月 jiǔ yuè | September |
| 十月 shí yuè | October |
| 十一月 shí yī yuè | November |
| 十二月 shí èr yuè | December |
Day
The day is: number + 号, or number + 日. 号 is more often used in casual, spoken Chinese, while 日 is more formal and used in writing. Here are some examples:
| Chinese | English |
|---|---|
| 三十一号 sān shí yī hào | 31st |
| 十二号 shí èr hào | 12th |
| 五号 wǔ hào | 5th |
| 三日 sān rì | 3rd |
| 二十五日 èr shí wǔ rì | 25th |
Days of the week
Days of the week are: 星期 + number for Monday to Saturday, and Sunday is 星期天 or 星期日. Here are all the days of the week:
| Chinese | English |
|---|---|
| 星期一 xīng qí yī | Monday |
| 星期二 xīng qí èr | Tuesday |
| 星期三 xīng qí sān | Wednesday |
| 星期四 xīng qí sì | Thursday |
| 星期五 xīng qí wǔ | Friday |
| 星期六 xīng qí liù | Saturday |
| 星期天、星期日 xīng qí tiān、xīng qí rì | Sunday |
Putting it together: the date
The date is: year + month + day + day of the week. Examples:
| Chinese | English |
|---|---|
| 二零二四年十一月三十号星期六 èr líng èr sì nián shí yī yuè sān shí hào xīng qí liù | 2024, November 30th, Saturday |
| 二零零三年三月三日星期一 èr líng líng sān nián sān yuè sān rì xīng qí yī | 2003, March 3rd, Monday |
Talking about dates
Here are some example sentences you can use to ask and answer questions about the date.
| Q: What is the date today? | A: Today is January 10th. |
|---|---|
| 今天是几月几号？ jīntiān shì jǐ yuè jǐ hào? | 今天是一月十号。 jīntiān shì yī yuè shí hào. |
| Q: Is today December 1st? | A: Right, today is December 1st. | A: Today is not December 1st. |
|---|---|---|
| 今天是十二月一号吗？ jīntiān shì shí èr yuè yī hào ma? | 对，今天是十二月一号。 duì, jīn tiān shì shí èr yuè yī hào. | 今天不是十二月一号。 jīn tiān bù shì shí èr yuè yī hào. |
甲：今天是二零二四年十二月五号吗？
乙：今天不是十二月五号。
甲：那今天是几月几号？
乙：今天是十二月六号。
*那 nà = then, in that case
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