Days, dates and clock time

Days of the week: 星期 + number

The days are simply numbered from Monday: 星期 (xīngqī, week) + 一 to 六. Sunday is the exception: 星期天 or 星期日.

"Which day?" is 星期几 (xīngqī jǐ). You'll also see 周一, 周二… (zhōuyī, zhōu'èr) in writing.

• 今天星期六。(Jīntiān xīngqīliù.)Today is Saturday.

With days, dates and times, 是 can be left out: 今天星期六. In the negative it comes back: 今天不是星期六.

Months and dates: 月 and 号

Months are numbers too: 一月 (yīyuè, January) to 十二月 (shí'èryuè, December). The day of the month is the number + 号 (hào) in speech; in writing you'll see 日 (rì).

Chinese goes from big to small: year, month, day, weekday. Years are read digit by digit: 二〇二六年 (èr líng èr liù nián).

• 我的生日是五月三号。(Wǒ de shēngrì shì wǔ yuè sān hào.)My birthday is the third of May.
• 今天是二〇二六年十月十八号。(Jīntiān shì èr líng èr liù nián shí yuè shíbā hào.)Today is the eighteenth of October 2026.

Ask with 几: 几月几号？(jǐ yuè jǐ hào?) = what date?

Clock time: 点, 分, 半

点 (diǎn) = o'clock, 分 (fēn) = minutes, 半 (bàn) = half. At two o'clock, use 两, not 二 (Numbers 0–99 and your age). "What time is it?" is 现在几点？(Xiànzài jǐ diǎn?)

• 现在八点半。(Xiànzài bā diǎn bàn.)It's half past eight now.

The part of the day comes before the clock time, big to small again: 早上 (zǎoshang, morning), 上午 (shàngwǔ, late morning), 中午 (zhōngwǔ, noon), 下午 (xiàwǔ, afternoon), 晚上 (wǎnshang, evening). 下午三点 = 3 p.m.

Time goes before the verb

"When" comes before the verb, never at the end as in English (在: where things are and where things happen):

• 我早上七点起床。(Wǒ zǎoshang qī diǎn qǐchuáng.)I get up at seven in the morning.
• 我们星期五下午两点见面。(Wǒmen xīngqīwǔ xiàwǔ liǎng diǎn jiànmiàn.)We're meeting at two on Friday afternoon.
• 电影晚上九点十分开始。(Diànyǐng wǎnshang jiǔ diǎn shí fēn kāishǐ.)The film starts at ten past nine in the evening.

Common mistakes

• 二点 → 两点. Two o'clock uses 两.
• 星期七 → 星期天 or 星期日.
• 十八号十月 → 十月十八号. Big to small: month before day.
• 三点下午 → 下午三点. The part of the day comes first.
• 我起床七点。 → 我七点起床。Time before the verb.
• 今天不星期五。 → 今天不是星期五。The negative needs 不是.