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Talking About Years, Dates, and Weekdays in Chinese
Learn to state a year, month, date, or weekday in Chinese, and put these calendar expressions in a natural order. This lesson focuses on years, months, days, and weekdays; telling the time of day is a separate topic.
今天是二〇二六年十月十九日。
Read the full explanation and examples
Build a calendar date
This lesson covers the outline point on expressing years, months, dates, and weekdays. Chinese marks these units with 年 (year), 月 (month), and 日 (day/date). A full date usually moves from the larger unit to the smaller one: year, then month, then day. In everyday speech, 号 can also be used for a calendar day; 日 often sounds more formal or written. The examples here use 日.
今天是二〇二六年十月十九日。
For a year, read each digit separately before 年. In the example, 二〇二六 is read èr líng èr liù. Months use the familiar numbers from one to twelve before 月. Day numbers come before 日. A year may be omitted when the listener already knows which year you mean or when it is irrelevant, as in a birthday or a plan within the current year.
Give just the month and day
When the year is clear from the situation, a month and day are often enough. This is useful for birthdays, appointments, and near-term plans. The order remains month before day: say the month number with 月, followed by the day number with 日. If the year matters, include it at the front.
我的生日是五月十二日。
我二〇二六年六月去北京。
Name a weekday
Use 星期一 for Monday, 星期二 for Tuesday, 星期三 for Wednesday, 星期四 for Thursday, 星期五 for Friday and 星期六 for Saturday. Sunday is 星期日 or 星期天. In 我们星期三见, the weekday is specified but the calendar date is not; the surrounding conversation identifies which Wednesday.
我们星期三见。
A standard full calendar line often puts the date before the weekday: 二〇二六年十月十九日，星期一. In conversation, a weekday can come first when it is the focus: 星期一，十月十九号，我们见. This does not change the internal year–month–day order of a full date.
今天是十月十九日，星期一。
The weekday follows the date. The sentence gives both the calendar date and the weekday.
Choose the detail your listener needs
- Use year + month + day when the year is important or unclear.
- Use month + day when the year is understood or unnecessary.
- Use 星期 + number to name a weekday; Sunday may be 星期日 or 星期天.
- In a full date line, date then weekday is a common order; conversational phrasing can foreground the weekday.
- Keep the year, month, and day markers in place so the calendar units are clear.
Frequently asked questions
Can I leave out the year?
Yes, when the year is already understood or does not matter for the conversation. Include it when the listener needs to distinguish the year.
How do I say Sunday?
星期日 and 星期天 are both common ways to say Sunday.
Where does the weekday go if I give a full date?
After the date is a standard full-line arrangement. A conversation can also foreground the weekday, as in 星期一，十月十九号，我们见. Keep the year, month and day in their normal order when they form one full date.
