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Daily lessons · Day 10 of 90
Days and dates
The week, the calendar and today
Chinese dates are numbers in a fixed order, with almost nothing to learn beyond the words for week, month and day. If you can count to thirty one you can already say any date in the year.
The days of the week
星期 plus a number. Monday is week one, and Sunday breaks the pattern.
Why it works
The week starts on Monday, not Sunday, which is why Monday is number one. Only Sunday gets a word instead of a number, 天 for day or 日 in writing. You will also hear 周一 and 礼拜一 for the same days: 周 is common in speech and on timetables, and 礼拜 is older and still widely used in the south.
Months and dates
The month is a number plus 月. The day of the month is a number plus 号.
Why it works
A full date runs from the largest unit to the smallest: year, month, day, and then the time if you need it. That is the opposite of the usual English order and the same as the international standard, so a Chinese date is never ambiguous the way 5/4 is between London and New York. 几 is the same word you met in 几点 on day 9, and for the same reason: the answer is a small number.
Around today
Four words that do most of the work in everyday arrangements.
Why it works
Chinese has single words for the day after tomorrow and the day before yesterday, which English has to build out of three words each. They come up constantly when making plans, and using them makes you sound noticeably less like a beginner than saying 明天的明天.
The holiday that moves the working week
Around the big public holidays, especially the October national week and Chinese New Year, the government publishes an official calendar that moves working days around. A Sunday can be declared a working day so that a longer break lines up. Shops stay open, but offices, banks and post offices follow the published calendar, so check it before assuming a Saturday is free.
Carried over from earlier days
Say each one out loud before you look at the English.
Today’s words 12
Check yourself
8 questions. Get 6 right to finish the day.
Which one is Monday?
- 星期一 xīngqīyī
- 星期天 xīngqītiān
- 星期六 xīngqīliù
- 星期二 xīngqī'èr
Show the answer
星期一 xīngqīyī The week starts on Monday, so Monday is week one.
Type what day is it today in pinyin.
Show the answer
jīntiān xīngqī jǐ 几 asks for a number, and the days of the week are numbered.
How is the year 2026 read out?
- digit by digit, èr líng èr liù
- as twenty twenty six
- as two thousand and twenty six
- as a single number followed by 年
Show the answer
digit by digit, èr líng èr liù Years are read as a string of digits, then 年.
Which order does a Chinese date go in?
- year, month, day
- day, month, year
- month, day, year
- it depends on the region
Show the answer
year, month, day Largest unit first, which is why Chinese dates are never ambiguous.
Which word means the day after tomorrow?
- 后天 hòutiān
- 明天 míngtiān
- 前天 qiántiān
- 昨天 zuótiān
Show the answer
后天 hòutiān 后 is behind or after, so it is the day beyond tomorrow.
You see 五月四日 on a form. What is 日 doing?
- it is the written form of 号, the day of the month
- it means sun
- it marks the year
- it is a typing mistake
Show the answer
it is the written form of 号, the day of the month 日 in writing, 号 in speech. The character does also mean sun.
Type the fourth of May in pinyin.
Show the answer
wǔ yuè sì hào Month plus 月, then the day plus 号.
Why might a Sunday be a working day in China?
- the official holiday calendar moves working days to create longer breaks
- Sundays are always working days
- banks never close
- shops set their own week
Show the answer
the official holiday calendar moves working days to create longer breaks It happens around the national week and Chinese New Year.
Question 1 of 8
Writing practice optional
Every character from today, in the order it came up. Watch it, trace it, then write it from memory.
Press Watch to see the stroke order.
Stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi via Hanzi Writer, Arphic Public License.
Character 1 of 18
This lesson is written by an English speaker who learned Mandarin as a second language, and it is waiting on a check by a native speaker. If you spot something off, please tell us and we will fix it.