Being able to dates is important to know when learning any language, and Chinese is no exception. In this post I will explain how to say dates, days of the week, months and years as well as provide example phrases and important vocabulary such as seasons.
Table of Contents
How to say numbers in Chinese
Before learning how to say dates, it is important to know Chinese numbers. Check out my post on how to count in Chinese, however as a quite guide I’ve provided numbers from 1 to 31 below. Note that while Chinese write numbers using standard Arabic numerals as we do in English, such as 1,2,3,etc., it is important to be able to know how to say the numbers
| Number | Chinese | Pinyin |
| 1 |
|
yī |
| 2 |
|
èr |
| 3 |
|
sān |
| 4 |
|
sì |
| 5 |
|
wǔ |
| 6 |
|
liù |
| 7 |
|
qī |
| 8 |
|
bā |
| 9 |
|
jiǔ |
| 10 |
|
shí |
| 11 |
|
shí yī |
| 12 |
|
shí èr |
| 13 |
|
shí sān |
| 14 |
|
shí sì |
| 15 |
|
shí wǔ |
| 16 |
|
shí liù |
| 17 |
|
shí qī |
| 18 |
|
shí bā |
| 19 |
|
shí jiǔ |
| 20 |
|
èr shí |
| 21 |
|
èr shí yī |
| 22 |
|
èr shí èr |
| 23 |
|
èr shí sān |
| 24 |
|
èr shí sì |
| 25 |
|
èr shí wǔ |
| 26 |
|
èr shí liù |
| 27 |
|
èr shí qī |
| 28 |
|
èr shí bā |
| 29 |
|
èr shí jiǔ |
| 30 |
|
sān shí |
| 31 |
|
sān shí yī |
How to write dates in Chinese
Dates in Chinese are written in the format of YEAR – MONTH – DAY, the reverse of English. Thus for example 1st July 2000 would be written as 2000-07-01. Typically however you would write dates with the character for year, month and day after each of these, thus 1st July 2000 would be written as
-
年 (nián) means year -
月 ( yuè) means month -
日 (rì) means day
The order that you write dates in Chinese are therefore different to the United States, which writes dates as MONTH – DAY – YEAR or many other countries which typically write days as DAY – MONTH – YEAR. Technically the Chinese way of writing dates is known as “big-endian”, meaning the largest value, being the year, is written first. By comparison writing days with the smallest value, the day, first is known as “little-endian”; finally writing days as MONTH – DAY – YEAR, is known as “middle-endian”.
Days of the Month Chinese Vocabulary
The day of the month is written in numerals, followed by either the character
今 天 1 0 号
jīntiān 10 hào
Today is the 10th
When talking about the date,
How to say “today”, “tomorrow” and “yesterday” in Chinese
Here is how to say, today, tomorrow and yesterday in Chinese:
- yesterday
昨 天 (zuótiān) - today
今 天 (jīntiān) - tomorrow
明 天 (míngtiān)
It is common to use
Today I want to go to the park
jīntiān wǒ xiǎng qù gōngyuán
How to say “the day after tomorrow” and “the day before yesterday” in Chinese
In Chinese the is a special word for both the day after tomorrow and the day before yesterday:
- the day before yesterday
前 天 (qiántiān) - the day after tomorrow
hòutiān wǒ yào shàngbānI have to go to work the day after tomorrowHow to say “three days ago” in Chinese
If you would like to talk about a given number of days in the past the Chinese word for “before” or “prior” 前 (qián) is used, so for example:
- 3 days ago
三 天 前 (sān tiān qián) - 4 days ago
四 天 前 (sì tiān qián) - 5 days ago
五 天 前 (wǔ tiān qián) - X days ago
X 天 前 (X tiān qián)
It is also fine to say：
- “two days ago”
两 天 前 (liǎng tiān qián) instead of “the day before yesterday”后 天 (hòutiān) - “one day ago”
一 天 前 (yītiān qián) instead of “yesterday”昨 天 (zuótiān)
So for example, you could say:
Three days ago we went to the beach
sān tiān qián wǒmen qù hǎitānleHow to say “in three days” in Chinese
If you would like to talk about a given number of days in the future the Chinese word for “after”
后 (hòu) is used, and is literally used to say “X days after”. For example:- in three days time
三 天 后 (sān tiānhòu) - in four days time
四 天 后 (sì tiānhòu) - in five days time
五 天 后 (wǔ tiānhòu） - in X days time
X 天 后 (X tiānhòu）
Consistent with talking about days in the past, for days in the future you can also say:
- “in two days time”
两 天 后 (liǎng tiānhòu) instead of “the day after tomorrow”后 天 (qiántiān) - “in one days time”
一 天 后 (yī tiānhòu) instead of “tomorrow”明 天 (qiántiān)
Days of the week Chinese Vocabulary
The days of the week in Chinese is very easy, as Monday to Saturday are simply numbered from one through to six, with Sunday pronounced separately.
English Chinese Pinyin Monday 星 期 一 xīngqí yī Tuesday 星 期 二 xīngqí’èr Wednesday 星 期 三 xīngqísān Thursday 星 期 四 xīngqísì Friday 星 期 五 xīngqíwǔ Saturday 星 期 六 xīngqíliù Sunday 星 期 日 /星 期 天 xīngqírì / xīngqítiān Here
星 期 really just means “day of week” or simply “day’, thus星 期 一 means “day one” for example.You may wonder if you could write days with numbers instead of the Chinese characters, for example 星期1 or 星期5; this is not how days are written and is not an acceptable form.
How to say “next Monday” in Chinese
In Chinese when talking about future or past days, the phrases use ”last”
上 (shàng) or “next”下 ( xià) as are used:English Chinese Pinyin Pronunciation Next Monday 下 个 星 期 一 xià gè xīngqí yī Last Thursday 上 个 星 期 四 shàng gè xīngqísì This Wednesday 这 个 星 期 三 zhège xīngqísān If you find yourself mixing up
上 and下 , think of time flowing downwards, thus yesterday is above (上 ) and tomorrow is below (下 ). Note also that in the above table前 (qián) means “prior” and后 (hòu) means “after”.Chinese Vocabulary for Weeks
Below is are the phrases you will need when talking about this week, last week, next week, a few notes:
- In talking about a previous week, month or day the Chinese character “last”
上 (shàng) is used. Although上 also means “above”, in the context of dates, “last” is a better definition - When talking about next week, month or year, the Chinese character “next”
下 (xià) is used. Again, you may be familiar with下 begin defined as below, however in this case “next” is the appropriate definition.
Below are the full phrases that you will find useful when talking about weeks. Pay attention to the use of either
星 期 (xīngqí) or周 (zhōu) being used, both mean week.English Chinese Pinyin Pronunciation 3 weeks ago 三 周 前 sān zhōu qián 2 weeks ago 两 周 前 liǎng zhōu qián last week 上 个 星 期 shàng gè xīngqí this week 这 个 星 期 zhège xīngqí the week before last 下 个 星 期 xià gè xīngqí in 2 weeks time 两 周 后 liǎng zhōu hòu in 3 weeks time 三 周 后 sān zhōu hòu How to say “Weekend” in Chinese
The word for “weekend” in Chinese is
周 末 (zhōumò), where周 is the word for week, which I covered above, and 末 means “end”, so周 末 literally means “week end”. The phrases for talking about this, last and next weekend are the same as those used for talking about weeks, however “weekend”周 末 (zhōumò) is used rather than “week”周 (zhōu):English Chinese Pinyin Pronunciation 3 weekends ago 三 周 末 前 sān zhōumò qián 2 weekends ago 两 周 末 前 liǎng zhōumò qián last week 上 个 周 末 shàng gè zhōumò this week 这 个 周 末 zhège zhōumò the weekend before last 下 个 周 末 xià gè zhōumò in 2 weekends time 两 周 末 后 liǎng zhōumò hòu in 3 weekends time 三 周 末 后 sān zhōumò hòu How to say Next Month, This Month and Last Month in Chinese
Similar to weeks, when talking about months you should use the ”last”上 (shàng) and “next”下 ( xià) characters.
English Chinese Pinyin Pronunciation 3 months ago 3 月 前 3 yuè qián 2 months ago 2 月 前 2 yuè qián 1 month ago 1 月 前 1 yuè qián last month 上 个 月 shàng gè yuè this month 这 个 月 zhège yuè next month 下 个 月 xià gè yuè in 1 month 一 月 后 yī yuè hòu in 2 months 两 月 后 liǎng yuè hòu in 3 months 三 月 后 sān yuè hòu Chinese Vocabulary for Months
Chinese write months as the month number followed by the character for month, 月 (yuè), where January is the first month and December is the last month:
English Chinese Pinyin Pronunciation January 一 月 yī yuè February 二 月 èr yuè March 游 行 yóuxíng April 四 月 sì yuè May 可 以 kěyǐ June 六 月 liù yuè July 七 月 qī yuè August 八 月 bā yuè September 九 月 jiǔ yuè October 十 月 shí yuè November 十 一 月 shíyī yuè December 十 二 月 shí’èr yuè Note that writing months in this way is the equivalent of writing it in words in English, that is “January” or “February”. Writing a full date in YEAR – MONTH – DAY is the numerical format, where you use the number for the month rather than the Chinese character. If however you were to say “My birthday is in January”, you would write the date with Chinese characters, that is
我 的 生 日 是 一 月 .What is the difference between 月 and 月份 (yue and yuefen)?
月 (yuè) and月 份 (yuèfèn) are essentially the same, although月 份 is a more formal. When writing dates you will commonly see just月 used, such as January一 月 . Using the example I provided earlier in this post, you can write the sentence “my birthday is in January” as either:-
我 的 生 日 是 一 月 (wǒ de shēngrì shì yī yuè) -
我 的 生 日 是 一 月 分 (wǒ de shēngrì shì yī yuè fēn)
Both of these are acceptable.
Chinese vocabulary for years
The word for year is
年 (nián). When writing the year you simply write the year followed by年 , for example2 0 2 0 年 is the year 2020How to write “last year”, “this year” or “next year” in Chinese
Below is a table with the vocabulary for talking about years:
English Chinese Pinyin Pronunciation 3 years ago 3 年 前 sān nián qián 2 years ago 2 年 前 liǎng nián qián 1 years ago 1 年 前 yī nián qián the year before last 前 年 qiánnián last year 去 年 qùnián this year 今 年 jīnnián next year 明 年 míngnián the year after next 后 年 hòu nián in 1 year 一 年 后 yī nián hòu in 2 years 两 年 后 liǎng nián hòu in three years 三 年 后 sān nián hòu As you can see the vocabulary used for years is very similar to that used for days, with the exception that:
去 (qù) is used when saying “last year”去 年 (qùnián) and essentially means “the year just passed”.How do you write AD or BC in Chinese?
The Chinese word for Common Era (AD) is
公 元 (gōngyuán). Before the Common Era (BC) is公 元 前 . For example 2020AD is公 元 2 0 2 0 年 , while 800BC is公 元 前 8 0 0 年 What is the name of the Western Gregorian calendar in Chinese?
The modern Western or Gregorian calendar is know as:
- New Calendar
新 力 (xīnlì) - Public Calendar
公 历 (gōnglì)
China adopted the Western (Gregorian) calendar on 1st January 1912, however many holidays are still based on the lunar calendar.
What is the name of the traditional lunar calendar in Chinese?
The Chinese calendar is essentially a solar-lunar calendar, meaning that years and months are based on the seasons (the earths rotation around the sun) and the moon. Specifically, each month starts on the first day of a new moon, while the years start two or three lunar months after the Winter Solstice, that is the shortest winter day.
The traditional lunar calendars can be written as:
- Peasant or Farming Calendar
农 历 (nónglì) - Lunar Calendar
阴 历 (yīnlì) - Former / Old Calendar
旧 历 (jiùlì)
The Chinese names and timing of public holidays in China
Chinese public holidays are based on either the lunar or Gregorian (Western) calendar:
- New Years Day
元 旦 – occurs on the 1st of January - Chinese New Year
中 国 新 年 / Spring Festival春 节 – the first day of the lunar calendar, approximately late January or February - Qingming or Tomb-sweeping, literally the “pure brightness festival”
清 明 节 (qīngmíng jié) is based on the Solar term, not the luni-solar date, and so falls consistently on either the 4th or 5th of April every year - Labour Day
劳 动 节 (láodòng jié) occurs on the 1st of May - Dragon Boat Festival
端 午 节 (duānwǔ jié) occurs on the 5th day of the 5th lunisolar , approximately May/June. - Mid-Autumn Festival
中 秋 节 (zhōngqiū jié) occurs on the 15th day of the 8th lunisolar month, approximately September/October - National Day
国 庆 节 (guóqìng jié) occurs on the 1st of October
How to say the seasons in Chinese
As china is a large country, you will see the seasons defined differently. The names and months of the season in China are:
- Spring
春 天 (chūn tiān), March – May - Summer
夏 天 (xià tiān), June – August - Autumn
秋 天 (qiū tiān), September – November - Winter
冬 天 (dōng tiān), December – February
The traditionally Chinese seasons are based on the lunar-solar traditional Chinese Calendar
农 历 (nónglì). Specifically the names for the start of the seasons are:- Start of Spring
立 春 (lìchūn), the 1st solar terms in the lunisolar calendar, starting 4th or 5th of February - Start of Summer
立 夏 (lìxià), the 7th solar terms in the lunisolar calendar, starting 5th or 6th of May - Start of Autumn
立 秋 (lìqiū), the 13th solar terms in the lunisolar calendar, starting 7th or 8th of August - Start of Winter
立 冬 (lìdōng), the 19th solar terms in the lunisolar calendar, starting 7th or 8th of November
In fact there are 24 solar terms, and the start of spring, summer, autumn and winter are only four of the 24 terms. The actual dates and names of the terms isn’t particularly relevant or useful to commit to memory.
What is the lunisolar calendar?
The lunisolar is the traditional Chinese calendar where the date indicates both the time of the year and the moon phase. Essentially the lunisolar calendar year is broken in to 24 “solar terms” based on the longitude of the sun. This is why the start of the seasons vary slightly on the western (Gregorian) calendar from year to year.
Vocabulary Summary
This is a quick summary of how to say day, days of the week, weeks, weekend, month, year and seasons in Chinese:
English Chinese Pinyin Pronunciation day of the month 1 - 3 1 日 /1 - 3 号 1-31 rì/ 1-31 hào day of the week （Mon – Sun) 星 期 一 ，星 期 二 ，星 期 三 ，送 气 四 ，星 期 五 ，星 期 六 ，星 期 天 /星 期 日 xīngqí yī, xīngqí’èr, xīngqísān, sòngqì sì, xīngqíwǔ, xīngqíliù, xīngqítiān/xīngqírì week 周 /星 期 zhōu/ xīngqí weekend 周 末 zhōumò month 月 yuè year 年 nián spring, summer,autumn,winter 春 天 ，夏 天 ，秋 天 ，冬 天 chūntiān, xiàtiān, qiūtiān, dōngtiān Below is a summary of how to talk about previous, current and future days, weeks, weekends, months and years:
years months weekends weeks days 3 years/months/weekends/weeks/days ago 3 年 前 3 月 前 三 周 末 前 三 周 前 三 天 前 2 years/months/weekends/weeks/days ago 2 年 前 2 月 前 两 周 末 前 两 周 前 两 天 前 1 year/month/weekend/week/day ago 1 年 前 1 月 前 一 周 末 前 一 周 前 一 天 前 the year/month/weekend/week/day before last 前 年 上 上 月 上 上 周 末 上 上 周 前 天 last year/month/weekend/week/day 去 年 上 个 月 上 个 周 末 上 个 星 期 昨 天 this year/month/weekend/week/day 今 年 这 个 月 这 个 周 末 这 个 星 期 今 天 next year/month/weekend/week/day 明 年 下 个 月 下 个 周 末 下 个 星 期 明 天 the year/month/weekend/week/day after next 后 年 下 下 月 下 下 周 末 下 下 周 后 天 in 1 year/month/weekend/week/day time 一 年 后 一 月 后 一 周 末 后 一 周 后 一 天 后 in 2 years/months/weekends/weeks/days time 两 年 后 两 月 后 两 周 末 后 两 周 后 两 天 后 in 3 years/months/weekends/weeks/days 三 年 后 三 月 后 三 周 末 后 三 周 后 三 天 后 Below is the pinyin for the above phrases
years months weekends weeks days 3 years/months/weekends/weeks/days ago sān nián qián sān nián qián sān zhōumò qián sān zhōu qián sān tiān qián 2 years/months/weekends/weeks/days ago liǎng nián qián liǎng nián qián liǎng zhōumò qián liǎng zhōu qián liǎng tiān qián 1 year/month/weekend/week/day ago yī nián qián yī nián qián yī zhōumò qián yīzhōu qián yītiān qián the year/month/weekend/week/day before last qiánnián qiánnián shàng shàng zhōumò shàng shàng zhōu qiántiān last year/month/weekend/week/day qùnián qùnián shàng gè zhōumò shàng gè xīngqí zuótiān this year/month/weekend/week/day jīnnián jīnnián zhège zhōumò zhège xīngqí jīntiān next year/month/weekend/week/day míngnián míngnián xià gè zhōumò xià gè xīngqí míngtiān the year/month/weekend/week/day after next hòu nián hòu nián xià xià zhōumò xià xià zhōu hòutiān in 1 year/month/weekend/week/day time yī nián hòu yī nián hòu yī zhōumò hòu yī zhōu hòu yī tiānhòu in 2 years/months/weekends/weeks/days time liǎng nián hòu liǎng nián hòu liǎng zhōumò hòu liǎng zhōu hòu liǎng tiānhòu in 3 years/months/weekends/weeks/days sān nián hòu sān nián hòu sān zhōumò hòu sān zhōu hòu sān tiānhòu Conclusion
As you can see there is a lot of vocabulary that is involved when talking about dates in Chinese. Much of the vocabulary is repetitive, so you should try to take a holistic approach to this vocabulary.
Note that the best way of remember this vocabulary is to use it, even if only by talking to yourself every day in saying something like:
Today is Monday今 天 是 星 期 一
jīntiān shì xīngqí yīIf you keep a physical diary of any kind, write the date each day in Chinese. As with any vocabulary, if you don’t think about it, internalise it and use it, you will forget it.
- 3 days ago
