Dates in Chinese (Years, Months, Days): A Comprehensive Guide - ImproveMandarin (2024)

Whether you want to organizemeetings, make holiday reservations, or plan social activities, you most likely won’t be able to accomplish that without knowing how to say datesin Chinese.

Dates in Mandarin Chinese work quite differently than in English. To start with, they follow a different word order. But don’t worry, Chinese can be easier since there’s only one way to say the date – not multiple ways as there are in English. And there’s a simple formula to follow. Once you get the pattern down, you’ll be able to say the date in Chinese in no time.

This guide will give you a complete insight into all the different elements of the date in Chinese – year, month, day. You’ll learn how to say the date in the complete form and shortened form, and write the date in Chinese like a local.

Let’s have a look!

How to Say Dates in Mandarin Chinese – An Overview

In Chinese, dates are called “日期 (rìqī)”. To say the date in Chinese, you have to not only know your numbersbut also be able to pronounce the years, months, and dayscorrectly. Then there are some important differences between how dates are said in Chinese and other languages such as English and Spanish.

Before we delve into the details, let’s look at a few things you need to be aware of when learning this aspect of the Chinese language.

Key Vocabularyfor Dates in Chinese

First of all, to say and write dates in Chinese, you’ll need to know three keywords.

These wordsare the building blocks ofthe date expression in Chinese. You’ll use them for every date.

Numbers for Dates in Chinese

In English, ordinal numbers (such as “first” or “second”) are used to say the date. In Chinese, however, you always use cardinal numbers. To say the date and month in Chinese, you’ll need to know the words for all the numbers from one to thirty-one.

If you have a bit of a knack for Chinese numbers, the dates should pose no particular problem for you. We’ve written acomplete tutorial on numbers in Chinese to help you get started.

If you are not comfortable with the Chinese number system yet, try practicingit with random strings of numbers rather than counting in order. This proves to be afar more effective way to remember numbersin Chinese. You can also post notes around your house with the Arabic numeral and the Chinese word for that number. Soon you’ll get used to associating the two.

Formula for Saying the Date in Chinese

When you saythe date in Chinese, you’ll use a different form than you may have learned in English. One of the most importantthings to noteis that in Chinese, the yearcomesfirst, followed by the month and then the day.

For saying the date in its entity, you use a simple formula:

年 (nián) + 月 (yuè) + 日 (rì)

When you announce a date of the current year, you’d commonly leave out announcing the year.

• 月 (yuè) + 日 (rì)

That being said, you are now ready to learn how to say the date in Chinese!

Years in Chinese

The first step to saying the date in Chinese is to say the year.

Unlike in many languages where you express the year by saying the whole number (e.g. 2021 in Spanish – dos mil veintiuno), to say the year in Chinese, you read out each digit of the number, and then add the word 年 (nián)– “year”to it.

For example,

• 2021
  二零二一年
  èr líng èr yī nián
  Literally, “two zero two one year”

• 2005
  二零零五年
  èr líng líng wǔ nián
  Literally, “two zero zero five year”

• 2000
  二零零零年
  èr líng líng líng nián
  Literally, “two zero zero zero year”

• 1997
  一九九七年
  yī jiǔ jiǔ qī nián
  Literally: “one nine nine seven year”

A common mistake people make when saying the year in Chinese would be splitting the number the English way (e.g. 2020 – twenty twenty).

• Don’t say: 二十二十年 (èr shí èr shí nián), 十九九十八年 (shí jiǔ jiǔ shí bā nián), etc
• Do say: 二零二零年 (èr líng èr líng nián), 一九九八年 (yī jiǔ jiǔ bā nián)

If you’re talking about a recent year, you can also use a shortened way of expressing years by just reading out the last two digits of the number, like

• 二零年
  èr língnián
  the year 2020
  Literally, “two zeroyear”

• 八八年
  bā bā nián
  the year 1988
  Literally, “eight eight year”

Theoretically, the two digits can refer to all those “20”s and “88”s in different centuries, but as long as the context is clear, people won’t be confused by the shortened version. For instance, if you say you were born in the year 88 – 八八年 (bā bā nián), people will surely know you are talking about 1988, not 1888 or 1788. (unless you’re a vampire!)

Last but not least, don’t get the two-digit shortened version mixed up with the way of saying whole numbers in Chinese. If you pronounced the year (19)88 as 八十八年 (bā shí bā nián), it would instead mean “eighty-eight years”. So, always read out each digit!

In most instances, you probably won’t need to state the year along with the date if you’re just speaking conversationally. But if you do, make sure to saythe year at the very beginning rather than at the end.

Months in Chinese

After saying the year, you’ll then say the month of the year.

Here are twelve months in Chinese with the pronunciation.

The namesfor the months in Chinese are based on the word 月 (yuè), meaning “month”and a simple numerical sequence. To say January through December, start with the number that corresponds to the month and then follow it up 月 (yuè).

January is thus 一月 (yīyuè) – the first month, February is 二月 (èr yuè) – the second month, and so on all the way up to December 十二月 (shí èr yuè) – the twelfth month.

Once you’ve learned how to count to 12 in Chinese, saying the month should just be intuitive. If you still have a problem associating the numbers with the month names, buy a Chinese calendar so you’re looking at them regularly.

Days of the Month in Chinese

Finally, you’ll say the day of the month to round out the date.

Here’s how you say the 31 days of the month in Chinese.

Dates in Chinese follow the same pattern of months: you’ll say the number of the day first, then follow it up with the word 号 (hào), meaning “date”.

As with months, you use cardinal numbers (one, two, three, etc) instead of ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc) for dates in Chinese, e.g. 三号 (sān hào), not 第三号 (dì sānhào).

Dates in Chinese– The Complete Form

Now that you know the years, months, and days in Chinese, we can put all the pieces together to say the entire date using the “年 (nián) + 月 (yuè) + 日 (rì)”formula.

Here are some examples:

• December 25, 2021
  二零二一年十二月二十五号
  èr líng èr yī niánshí èr yuèèr shí wǔhào
  Literally, “two zero two one year, twelve month, twenty-five date”

• February 14, 1986
  一九八六年二月十四号
  yī jiǔ bāliùniánèr yuèshí sìhào
  Literally, “one nine eight six year, two month, fourteen date”

• July 4, 1776
  一七七六年七月四号
  yī qī qīliùniánqī yuèsìhào
  Literally, “one seven seven six year, seven month, four date”

Youcan also say the year in the two-digit shortened way if itisrecent and the context is clear.

For instance,

• 我出生在八六年二月十四号。
  Wǒ chūshēng zài bāliùniánèr yuè shí sìhào.
  I was born on February 14, (19)86.

Easy, isn’t it?

Just one note: there is a slightly more formal way of expressing the date of the month by using 日 (rì) instead of 号 (hào).

• December 25, 2021
  二零二一年十二月二十五日
  èr líng èr yī nián shí èr yuè èr shí wǔrì

• February 14, 1986
  一九八六年二月十四日
  yī jiǔ bāliùnián èr yuè shí sìrì

• July 4, 1776
  一七七六年七月四日
  yī qī qīliùnián qī yuè sìrì

The word 日 (rì) means “day”. It works the same way as 号 (hào)when constituting the date in Chinese (you add it after the number of the day) – but it’s less common in daily use (you’ll encounter this word mainly in formal contexts such as documents and news reports).

So, stick to 号 (hào)in your daily Chinese interaction – it sounds more normal.

How to Ask the Datein Chinese

There are two main ways to ask about the date in Chinese.

1. 今天几号？(Jīntiānjǐhào?)

The most common and natural way to ask for the date in Chinese is to use the question 今天几号？(Jīntiānjǐhào?)

The word 几 (jǐ) is the question word for asking a specific number. So this question literally means “today (is) what number date?”.

And when you are asked the date, you could answer by saying 今天是 (jīntiān shì) – meaning “today is”before the date. For example, when someone asked you “今天几号 (jīntiānjǐhào)?”, you could say,

• 今天是七月七号。
  Jīntiān shì qī yuè qīhào.
  Today is September 7.

And in most contexts, you can reply with just the date (day of the month).

• 今天是七号。
  Jīntiān shì qīhào.
  Today is the 7th.

The verb “be”– 是 (shì)in 今天是 (jīntiān shì) is optional and often omitted in spoken Chinese. It’s totally okay to say 今天七月七号 (Jīntiān qī yuè qīhào), 今天七号 (Jīntiān qīhào), etc. Learn more about topic-comment structure.

2. 今天几月几号？(Jīntiānjǐyuèjǐhào?)

You can also ask 今天几月几号？(Jīntiānjǐyuèjǐhào?)

You typically use this question, which is translated as “today what number month what number date”word for word when you want to know what the month is as well as the date. People will then give you the number of both the month and the day, like

• 今天三月十五号。
  Jīntiān sān yuè shí wǔhào.
  Today is March 15.

If you want to know what day of the week it is instead of the specific date, use the phrase 今天星期几? (Jīntiān xīngqījǐ?). This question means “what day is it today?”and people will respond with a day of the week. There are other ways to ask for the same information. Learn more about days of the week in Chinese.

When you give the date for the current year in an informal style, it’s normal to omit the year.

• 今天是九月十号。
  Jīntiān shì jiǔ yuè shíhào.
  Today is September 10.

For the same reason, you wouldn’t normally ask for the year when asking the date. But if you happened to wake up from a coma and were wondering what year it was, you could ask 现在是几几年 (Xiànzài shìjǐjǐnián?), which means “what year is it now?”.

Remember to say 几 (jǐ) twice as each 几 (jǐ) corresponds to one digit in the two-digit version of saying the year.

How to Write the Date in Chinese

There are three ways to write the date in Chinese. There is the numerals-only version, the characters-only version, and a mix of numerals and characters. Let’s take a look at how to write the date using each method!

1. Only Numerals

Like the rest of the world,Chinese people use Arabic numerals widely in daily life. It’s possible to write the date in Chinese without resorting to characters.

But be careful!

To write the date using only numerals, you’ll always write the numerals corresponding to theyearfirst, followed by themonthand then theday, which reverses the British style of putting the day first. The numerals can be separated by slashes, dashes, or periods.

For example, if you wanted to write the date January 09, 2021, you might write

• 2021/01/09 (most common)
• 2021-01-09
• 2021.01.09

As with many languages, you can omit the “0” when writing one-digit months or days. You can also omit the first two digits of the year when writing the current year.

• 2021/1/9
• 2021-1-9
• 2021.1.9

2. Numerals and Characters

The second way to write the date in Chinese is to use a combination of numerals and characters.

The format is the same when writing the date out (year+month+day). You’ll use numerals to represent the year, month and day, and three Chinese characters: 年 (nián) – year, 月 (yuè) – month, 日 (rì) – day, instead of slashes, dashes, or periodsto separate these elements.

• 2021年01月09日
• 2021年1月9日

Note that in written Chinese, we typically use 日 (rì) instead of 号 (hào) to make it appear formal.

3. Only Characters

The third way, which is the most formal way of writing the date in Chinese is to use characters only. The numbers of the year, month, and day are all represented by Chinese characters, along with the separator words年 (nián), 月 (yuè)and日 (rì).

• 二零二一年一月九日
  èr líng èr yī nián yī yuè jiǔ rì

In a very formal context, such as legal documents, the “0”in one-digit months or days may also be written out in character.

• 二零二一年零一月零九日
  èr líng èr yī nián líng yī yuè líng jiǔ rì

Write the datein Chinese charactersif you want to practice your skills.Though you don’t typicallyneed to write out thedatein characters, it’s helpful to understand them – in many contexts, the numbers are only written in Chinese. We’ve written an in-depth guide to help you master this aspect of the Chinese language. Read more about Chinese numbers.

Other Words Related to Dates in Chinese

In normal speech, you don’t typically use specific dates all the time to talk about when something happened or is going to happen. Your Chinese will sound more natural if you use relational words such as “yesterday” or “tomorrow.”

So here are some additional words you can use to reference time in Chinese.

As for weeks, you can put 这 (zhè) – this,上 (shàng)– lastor下 (xià)– next, before the word 星期 (xīngqī) – week, to indicate the present, previous or upcoming week.

The format for months is the same.

You may also put the measure word 个 (gè) before 星期 (xīngqī) and 月 (yuè), e.g. 这个星期 (zhègèxīngqī), 下个月 (xià gè yuè). Read more about Chinese measure words.

Year works differently. There are specific words for “this year”, “last year”and “next year”in Chinese, just as the days are named “today”, “yesterday”and “tomorrow”etc, in English.

Practice Saying the Date in Chinese

Dates are essential for arranging meetings and vacations.Now that you know how to say the date in Chinese and the relevant vocabulary, it’s time to get out there and practice!

The following sentence examples will get you started.

• 今天七月三十一号，明天几月几号？
  Jīntiān qī yuè sān shí yīhào, míng tiān jǐyuèjǐhào?
  It’s July 31 today, what’s the date tomorrow?

• 我的生日是三月十四号，也就是后天。
  Wǒdeshēng rì shì sān yuè shí sìhào, yě jiù shì hòutiān.
  My birthday is March 14, that’s the day after tomorrow.

• 每年十月一号是中国的国庆日。
  Měi nián shí yuè yīhàoshìZhōngguódeGuóqìngrì.
  The annual October 1 is China’s National Day.

• 我们学校九月一号开学。
  Wǒmen xuéxiàojiǔ yuè yīhàokāixué.
  Our school starts on September 1.

• 下月三号我要去台湾出差。
  Xià yuè sānhàowǒyàoqùTáiwān chūchāi.
  I’ll go to Taiwan on business on the third of next month.

• 我要订两晚酒店，四号和五号。
  Wǒyàodìng liǎng wǎn jiǔdiàn, sìhàohéwǔhào.
  I need to book a hotel for two nights, (for) the fourth and the fifth.

• 我从去年十月开始学中文。
  Wǒ cóng qùnián shí yuè kāishǐ xuéZhōngwén.
  I started learning Chinese last October.

• 林肯出生于一八零九年二月十二号。
  Línkěn chūshēng yú yī bā líng jiǔ nián èr yuè shí èrhào.
  Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809.

FAQabout Dates in Chinese

Before I wrap things up, let’s quickly go through a few questions I receive all the time about expressing dates in Chinese.

Quick Summary

Here’s a quick summary of what we covered in this guide:

In Chinese, the elements of the date arenamed inthe order“year + month + day”. To say the date in Chinese, use the formula年 (nián) + 月 (yuè) + 号(hào). Say the number corresponding to the year first, then the month of the year, and finally the day of the month.For the years from 2001 to 2009, you can also say the whole number (两千零 liǎng qiān + number) instead of reading out each digit. When giving the date for the current year, the year is often omitted.

To ask the date in Chinese, ask “今天几号？(Jīntiānjǐhào?)”or “今天几月几号？(Jīn tiānjǐyuèjǐhào?)” depending on whether you want to know what month it is as well. For the notation of dates, you can choose between numerals only, Chinese characters, or a mixture of numerals and characters. Always put the year first: the format is YYYY/MM/DD. Remember in written Chinese, 号(hào)is usually replaced by 日(rì).

The day of the week can be just as important as the specific date, especially when planning future events. Now thatyou’velearnedhow to say the date in Chinese, it’s also a good idea to know how to say the days of the weekin case you’re asked.

Wealso recommend you combine what you learn in this article withour other free resources:

• How to Say Chinese Numbers
• How to Tell the Time in Chinese
• Common Time Words in Chinese
• Basic Chinese Words and Phrases
• Basic Chinese Grammar for Beginners