Date in Chinese: Mastering the Chinese Calendar

When learning the essentials of language, you need to delve into diverse topics, including the date in Chinese. Someday, you’ll meet new people, and if you want to get presents, be sure to know how to say your date of birth correctly. So, to start engaging in basic conversation, it’s crucial to grasp how to refer to different years, months, and days. In this article, you’ll learn the fascinating background of the Chinese calendar and traditions, as well as the correct ways of writing and pronouncing dates in this oriental language.

Introduction to Dates in Chinese

Each day presents new opportunities, and knowing how to name dates when studying Chinese is essential. This includes getting acquainted with days, months, and years. This knowledge will enable you to confidently talk about important events, set appointments, and pronounce written equivalences. 

Compared to English, Chinese dates have a different structure. At the same time, it’s more straightforward, as there’s only one correct variant to express the date. That means there are no multiple forms like in English. Consequently, it’ll be much simpler to say dates once you figure out the pattern. By the way, mastering numbers in this oriental language helps further comprehend the local date system.

Importance of Learning Chinese Dates

Learning to speak Chinese can bring a lot of new opportunities to your routine schedule. Any milestone in mastering the language allows you to open a new horizon and access more information. Getting familiar with Chinese dates will enable you to confidently and correctly name months, days, and years in Chinese. You’ll know how to express those time periods in both full and abbreviated form. In addition, you’ll develop your writing skills, gaining a solid command of writing those terms in Chinese like a pro.

By mastering Chinese dates, you can enhance the whole language experience. You’ll be able to schedule meetings and events with coworkers, classmates, or just new acquaintances. Buying tickets, asking about opening hours, and reading schedules will be easy for you when traveling. In addition, possessing this skill will help you learn more about local traditions and holidays.

Chinese Date Format

Talking about dates in the Chinese language isn’t vastly different from English once you grasp some basic patterns. The first essential to remember is the right China date format, requiring you to comprehend the correct sequence of year, month, and day. In addition, knowing the number vocabulary and characters will be a great plus in mastering this skill.

Year-Month-Day Order

Learning Chinese dates offers a new perspective on how you perceive time. How do Chinese write dates? Unlike the month-day-year format in English, Chinese dates follow a year-month-day sequence, emphasizing larger to smaller units. In addition, to say the year, you need to mention each digit and then add the word “year” (nián). It goes like 2021年 (èr líng èr yī nián) 1月 (yuè) 1日 (rì). Note: when you specify a date in the current year, you usually leave out the year. For instance, 1月1日.

Understanding Cardinal Numbers and Characters

To help you better understand how to name dates in the Chinese tongue, let’s compare it with English. In English, when discussing dates, we use ordinal numbers, like the first, the second, etc. In Chinese, however, you have to use cardinal numbers, such as one, two, etc. So, to correctly say a specific point in time, you need to master basic counting.

Another thing to consider is the characters. Chinese characters are firmly embedded in the local culture and language. Using them as dates preserves cultural heritage and linguistic integrity.

Months of the Year in Chinese

After indicating the year, you need to proceed with the month. To do this, remember that the Chinese names of months are based on the term 月 (yuè), meaning “month,” and a simple number sequence. To say January through December, start with the number that corresponds to the month, followed by 月 (yuè).

So, January is 一月 (yī yuè) – translating simply like “the month one,” February is 二月 (èr yuè) – the month two, etc. Following these examples, practice this pattern up to December 十二月 (shí èr yuè) – the twelfth month. Once you learn how to count from 1 to 12, naming Chinese months should be easy. Practice saying months with the following prompts:

January: 一月 (yī yuè)

February: 二月 (èr yuè)

March: 三月 (sān yuè)

April: 四月 (sì yuè)

May: 五月 (wǔ yuè)

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 (shí yī yuè)

December: 十二月 (shí èr yuè)

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Pronunciation and Pinyin Guide

Hanyu Pinyin, often called just Pinyin, is the most widely used system for transcribing Mandarin Chinese into the Roman alphabet. It’s officially known as the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet. Study the months in Mandarin according to the Pinyin pronunciation guide.

January: 一月 (ee-yweh)

February: 二月 (ar-yweh)

March: 三月 (san-yweh)

April: 四月 (suh-yweh)

May: 五月 (woo-yweh)

June: 六月 (lyoh-yweh)

July: 七月 (chee-yweh)

August: 八月 (bah-yweh)

September: 九月 (jyoh-yweh)

October: 十月 (shih-yweh)

November: 十一月 (shih-ee-yweh)

December: 十二月 (shih-ar-yweh)

Days of the Week in Chinese

Finally, to master the date topic, you need to specify the day of the week. Learn the following terms in Chinese and proceed with the pronunciation and usage rules you need to remember below.

Monday: 周一 (zhōuyī), 礼拜一 (lǐbài yī), 星期一 (xīngqī yī)

Tuesday: 周二 (zhōu’èr), 礼拜二 (lǐbài èr), 星期二 (xīngqī èr)

Wednesday: 周三 (zhōusān), 礼拜三 (lǐbài sān), 星期三 (xīngqī sān)

Thursday: 周四 (zhōusì), 礼拜四 (lǐbài sì), 星期四 (xīngqī sì)

Friday: 周五 (zhōuwǔ), 礼拜五 (lǐbài wǔ), 星期五 (xīngqī wǔ)

Saturday: 周六 (zhōuliù), 礼拜六 (lǐbài liù), 星期六 (xīngqī liù)

Sunday: 周日 (zhōurì), 礼拜天 (lǐbài tiān), 礼拜日 (lǐbài rì), 星期日 (xīngqī rì), 星期天 (xīngqī tiān)

Pronunciation Guide and Usage

When discussing Chinese weekdays, there are three alternative ways to say “the week.” 礼拜 (lǐbài) and 星期 (xīngqī) are more conversational. The first variant originally came from the religious influence of the West, translating to “worship” or “religious service.” The most formal term is 周 (zhōu), followed by the less formal 星期, and the least formal is 礼拜. To use the correct alternative, you need to determine the specific context. Below, you can study different ways to say and pronounce the weekdays in Chinese.

Monday: 周一 (zhōuyī) – “joe yee”, 礼拜一 (lǐbài yī) – “lee bye yee,” 星期一 (xīngqī yī) – “shing chee yee”

Tuesday: 周二 (zhōu’èr) – “joe are”, 礼拜二 (lǐbài èr) – “lee bye are”, 星期二 (xīngqī èr) – “shing chee are”

Wednesday: 周三 (zhōusān) – “joe san”, 礼拜三 (lǐbài sān) – “lee bye san”, 星期三 (xīngqī sān) – “shing chee san”

Thursday: 周四 (zhōusì) – “joe suh”, 礼拜四 (lǐbài sì) – “lee bye suh”, 星期四 (xīngqī sì) – “shing chee suh”

Friday: 周五 (zhōuwǔ) – “joe woo”, 礼拜五 (lǐbài wǔ) – “lee bye woo”, 星期五 (xīngqī wǔ) – “shing chee woo”

Saturday: 周六 (zhōuliù) – “joe leo”, 礼拜六 (lǐbài liù) – “lee bye leo”, 星期六 (xīngqī liù) – “shing chee leo”

Sunday: 周日 (zhōurì) – “joe ri”, 礼拜天 (lǐbài tiān) – “lee bye tian”, 礼拜日 (lǐbài rì) – “lee bye ri”, 星期日 (xīngqī rì) – “shing chee ri”, 星期天 (xīngqī tiān) – “shing chee tian”

How to Write and Read Dates in Chinese

Writing and reading dates skills are necessary for multiple occasions and events. This competency will enable you to recognize the characters and understand the specific dates behind them.

How to write the date in Chinese for formal settings? The classic way to write dates is YYYY年MM月DD日:

• 年 (nián) means year;
• 月 (yuè) means month;
• 日 (rì) means day.

This format is used for official documents and formal writing.

In Chinese, you write and say dates starting with the year, then the month, and finally the day. For instance, in English, it’ll look like this: January 1, 2024. In Chinese, the same date format is written as 2024年1月1日 and spoken as “èr líng èr sì nián yī yuè yī rì” (二零二四年一月一日). When reading dates, the structure remains consistent: say the year, followed by the month, and finally, the day.

Date Chinese: Grammar and Sentence Structure

There are a few rules to remember when building sentences with date-related information in Chinese.

• Using Articles and Numbers

The Chinese language doesn’t suggest using articles. Numbers can be written in Arabic numerals (like 1, 2, 3) or Chinese characters (一, 二, 三). For instance, you can say: 今天是2024年7月11日, 星期四 which translates as “Today is Thursday, July 11, 2024.”

• Including the Day of the Week

When writing the Chinese date format, you can also mention the day of the week. Use 星期 followed by a number for Monday through Saturday, 星期天 or 星期日 for Sunday.

Cultural Context and Important Holidays

To fully understand and study the language with pleasure, you need to immerse yourself in its culture. To strengthen your knowledge of Chinese dates, learn a few major traditional events for this oriental nation’s different Chinese month seasons:

Spring Festival: 春节 (chun jyeh) 

Qingming Festival: 清明节 (ching-ming jyeh)

Dragon Boat Festival: 端午节 (dwan-woo jyeh)

Mid-Autumn Festival: 中秋节 (jong-chyoh jyeh)

Practical Conversation Examples

Mastering a new language includes a solid command of verbal communication. Look through the following examples to learn how to use dates in different conversational situations.

• Making Appointments

Common phrases for arranging meetings are: 

今天是几号。(Jīntiān shì jǐ hào?) – What day is it today?

你什么时候有空。(Nǐ shénme shíhòu yǒu kòng?) – When will you be free?

那我们约七月五号晚上见吧。(Nà wǒmen yuē qī yuè wǔ hào wǎnshàng jiàn ba) – Let’s meet on July 5 at night.

• Talking About Birthdays

When chatting with new acquaintances, you’ll want to know more about them. So ask them about their date of birth: 

你的生日是什么时候？ (Nǐ de shēngrì shì shénme shíhòu?) – When is your birthday?

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With Promova, you enter a zealous community of eager learners. You can learn anywhere, anytime, while practicing in a similar to real-life native environment. Expert advice from the platform’s professionals is available at every step of your learning journey.

Conclusion

How to say dates in Chinese? Mastering a new language may be challenging, even when it comes to date topics. In fact, it only takes some time to understand the pattern, and then you’ll be able to confidently write and read time periods. Practice makes perfect, so enhance your Chinese comprehension by delving into its traditional calendar system.