Telling the Date in Mandarin Chinese
Telling the Date in Mandarin Chinese (日期/rìqī) Understanding how to say dates in Mandarin Chinese is simple once you learn the basic words and structure. In this guide, we’ll learn […]
Telling the Date
in Mandarin Chinese (日期/rìqī)
Understanding how to say dates in Mandarin Chinese is simple once you learn the basic words and structure. In this guide, we’ll learn step by step how to say year, month, and day, and how to make sentences using dates.
1. Basic Vocabulary
| No | Vocabulary | Meaning | |
| Character | Pinyin | ||
| 1 | 年 | nián | year |
| 2 | 月 | yuè | month |
| 3 | 日 / 号 | rì / hào | day |
| 4 | 今天 | jīntiān | today |
| 5 | 昨天 | zuótiān | yesterday |
| 6 | 明天 | míngtiān | tomorrow |
| 7 | 星期 | xīngqī | week |
| 8 | 几月几号 | jǐ yuè jǐ hào | what date |
2. Date Format in Mandarin
In Chinese, the order is:
Year + Month + Day
(From big to small: 年 → 月 → 日)
🧾 Example:
2025年5月20日
Èr líng èr wǔ nián wǔ yuè èr shí rì
May 20, 2025
3. How to Ask and Answer the Date
❓ How to ask:
今天几月几号？
Jīntiān jǐ yuè jǐ hào?
What is today’s date?
✅ How to answer:
今天是五月二十号。
Jīntiān shì wǔ yuè èrshí hào.
Today is May 20th.
4. How to Say the Year
Just say each digit of the year one by one.
Example:
2025 = 二零二五年 (èr líng èr wǔ nián)
1998 = 一九九八年 (yī jiǔ jiǔ bā nián)
5. How to Say the Month
In Mandarin, months are very easy to remember.
Just say the number (1 to 12) + 月 (yuè), which means “month.”
| No | Month | Characters | Pinyin |
| 1 | January | 一月 | yī yuè |
| 2 | February | 二月 | èr yuè |
| 3 | March | 三月 | sān yuè |
| 4 | April | 四月 | sì yuè |
| 5 | May | 五月 | wǔ yuè |
| 6 | June | 六月 | liù yuè |
| 7 | July | 七月 | qī yuè |
| 8 | August | 八月 | bā yuè |
| 9 | September | 九月 | jiǔ yuè |
| 10 | October | 十月 | shí yuè |
| 11 | November | 十一月 | shí yī yuè |
| 12 | December | 十二月 | shí èr yuè |
6. How to Say the Day
Just say the number + 号 (hào) or 日 (rì).
号 is more common in speaking.
日 is more formal or written.
Example:
1. 今天是十五号。
Jīntiān shì shíwǔ hào.
Today is the 15th.
2. 我哥哥一月三号回家。
Wǒ gēge yī yuè sān hào huí jiā.
My older brother comes home on January 3rd.
3. 他的生日是十二月二十五日。
Tā de shēngrì shì shí’èr yuè èrshíwǔ rì.
His birthday is on December 25th.
4. 考试是四月十日。
Kǎoshì shì sì yuè shí rì.
The exam is on April 10th.
7. Days of the Week
In Mandarin Chinese, the days of the week are very logical and simple. You just combine the word 星期 (xīngqī), which means “week,” with a number.
Structure:
星期 (xīngqī) + number
| No | Day | Characters | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monday | 星期一 | xīngqī yī |
| 2 | Tuesday | 星期二 | xīngqī èr |
| 3 | Wednesday | 星期三 | xīngqī sān |
| 4 | Thursday | 星期四 | xīngqī sì |
| 5 | Friday | 星期五 | xīngqī wǔ |
| 6 | Saturday | 星期六 | xīngqī liù |
| 7 | Sunday | 星期日 / 星期天 | xīngqī rì / xīngqī tiān |
📝 Note:
星期天 (xīngqī tiān) and 星期日 (xīngqī rì) both mean Sunday, and both are correct.
星期天 is more common in spoken language.
星期日 is more formal or used in writing.
🗓 Example Sentences:
今天星期三。
Jīntiān xīngqī sān.
Today is Wednesday.
我们星期六没有课。
Wǒmen xīngqī liù méiyǒu kè.
We don’t have class on Saturday.
你星期几去北京？
Nǐ xīngqī jǐ qù Běijīng?
What day are you going to Beijing?
💡 Extra Tip:
You can ask “今天星期几？” (Jīntiān xīngqī jǐ?) to say:
“What day is it today?
8. Practice the following dialogue with your partner!
明明 (Míngmíng) and 小红 (Xiǎohóng) are talking about the date.
明明: 今天几月几号？
Jīntiān jǐ yuè jǐ hào?
What is the date today?
小红: 今天是五月二十号。
Jīntiān shì wǔ yuè èrshí hào.
Today is May 20th.
明明: 明天星期几？
Míngtiān xīngqī jǐ?
What day is tomorrow?
小红: 明天是星期二。
Míngtiān shì xīngqī èr.
Tomorrow is Tuesday.
明明: 你的生日是几月几号？
Nǐ de shēngrì shì jǐ yuè jǐ hào?
When is your birthday?
小红: 我的生日是八月十号。
Wǒ de shēngrì shì bā yuè shí hào.
My birthday is August 10th.
明明: 我们下个星期五有考试吗？
Wǒmen xià gè xīngqī wǔ yǒu kǎoshì ma?
Do we have a test next Friday?
小红: 对，考试是五月三十一号。
Duì, kǎoshì shì wǔ yuè sānshíyī hào.
Yes, the test is on May 31st.
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