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Days and Months

Chinese days of the week are easy to remember! Just add the number of the weekday (Monday = 1, Tuesday = 2, etc.) to 星期 (xīngqī), which means week.

The only exception is Sunday, where we say 天 (tiān, sky) or 日 (rì, sun) instead of a number. It doesn’t matter whether you choose 天 or 日... just pick your favorite!

Monday	星期一 xīngqīyī
Tuesday	星期二 xīngqī'èr
Wednesday	星期三 xīngqīsān
Thursday	星期四 xīngqīsì
Friday	星期五 xīngqīwǔ
Saturday	星期六 xīngqīliù
Sunday	星期天 xīngqītiān 星期日 xīngqīrì

For month names, say the number of the month (January = 1, February = 2, etc.) before 月 (yuè), which means month.

January	一月 yīyuè
February	二月 èryuè
March	三月 sānyuè
December	十二月 shí’èryuè

Years

In English, we say two thousand and eighteen or twenty eighteen for the name of the year. But in Chinese, you say each individual number followed by 年 (nián). So 2018 would be 二〇一八年 (èr líng yī bā nián), which literally means two zero one eight year.

Notice that when you write years in Chinese, 〇 (líng) is used for zero instead of 零!

Talking about dates

To say a complete date in Chinese, start with the year, followed by the month, and then the day of the week. For November 30, 2011 you'd begin with the year:

二〇一一年
èr líng yī yī nián
2011

Then add the month:

十一月
shíyīyuè
November

And the day:

三十号
sānshí hào
30th

Put it all together and November 30, 2011 is 二〇一一年十一月三十号!

To say Today is Monday, December 1 you'd start with the month:

十二月一号
shí'èryuè yī hào

Then add the day of the week:

星期一
xīngqíyī

What day is it?

To ask about the date or time of day, use 几 (jǐ), which means how many.

To ask what date it is, ask for the month (几月, jǐ yuè) and the day of the month (几号, jǐ hào) at the same time.