In Chinese, dates go from big to small: year 年 (nián), month 月 (yuè), day 日 (rì) or 号 (hào).
Year: Just say each digit!
2024 = 二零二四年 (èr líng èr sì nián)
Month: Use the number + 月.
January = 一月 (yī yuè); July = 七月 (qī yuè)
Day: Use the number + 日 (rì) or 号 (hào) (both mean “day,” but 号 is more common in spoken Chinese).
25th = 二十五号 (èr shí wǔ hào) or 二十五日 (èr shí wǔ rì)
2. The Full Date
The order is: Year + Month + Day
Christmas: 2020年12月25日 (èr líng èr líng nián shí èr yuè èr shí wǔ rì)
Her birthday is: 七月十号 (qī yuè shí hào) = July 10th
3. Days of the Week
星期 (xīngqī) + number (Monday=1, Tuesday=2...Sunday=7 or 天/日).
Monday: 星期一 (xīngqī yī)
Friday: 星期五 (xīngqī wǔ)
Saturday: 星期六 (xīngqī liù)
Sunday: 星期天 (xīngqī tiān) or 星期日 (xīngqī rì)
Pro-tip: No need to memorize a new word for “Wednesday”—just count to three.
Let’s see your time-traveling skills in action!
1. Jianguo likes to work on Mondays. How do you say “Monday” in Chinese?
2. Lili’s birthday is July 10th. Write this in Chinese (hint: month + day + 号).
3. A story takes place on Christmas: 2020年12月25日. Fill in the correct Chinese:
4. Haoran has a test on Friday. Write “Friday” in Chinese:
5. Xiaotong goes shopping every Sunday. Write “Sunday” in Chinese (either answer is fine):
6. Zhiqiang says: “Today is March 2nd.” How do you say that in Chinese?
今天是
7. Xiulan always remembers New Year’s Day: January 1st. Write it in Chinese: