Insperium Chinese
Days of the Week in Chinese (Plus Months, Dates and Seasons)
October 16, 2026 · 6 min read
If you can count to ten in Chinese, you already know the days of the week. Monday is literally "week one", Tuesday "week two", and so on — only Sunday is different. The months work the same way: January is "one month", February "two month". Below are the days, months, dates and seasons with pinyin and native audio (press ▶).
The days of the week
| Chinese | Pinyin | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| 星期一 | xīngqīyī | Monday | |
| 星期二 | xīngqī'èr | Tuesday | |
| 星期三 | xīngqīsān | Wednesday | |
| 星期四 | xīngqīsì | Thursday | |
| 星期五 | xīngqīwǔ | Friday | |
| 星期六 | xīngqīliù | Saturday | |
| 星期天 | xīngqītiān | Sunday |
星期 (xīngqī) means "week". Add 1 to 6 and you have Monday to Saturday. Sunday is 星期天 in speech or 星期日 (xīngqīrì) in writing — 天 and 日 both mean "day".
You will also hear two other words for "week" used the same way: 周 (zhōu), short and common in writing and on signs (周一 = Monday, 周末 = weekend), and 礼拜 (lǐbài), more colloquial and common in southern China (礼拜一 = Monday).
The months
A month is a number plus 月 (yuè), "moon, month". No names to learn:
| Chinese | Pinyin | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| 一月 | yīyuè | January | |
| 二月 | èryuè | February | |
| 三月 | sānyuè | March | |
| 四月 | sìyuè | April | |
| 五月 | wǔyuè | May | |
| 六月 | liùyuè | June | |
| 七月 | qīyuè | July | |
| 八月 | bāyuè | August | |
| 九月 | jiǔyuè | September | |
| 十月 | shíyuè | October | |
| 十一月 | shíyīyuè | November | |
| 十二月 | shí'èryuè | December |
Careful: 一月 is January, but 一个月 (yí ge yuè) is "one month" as a length of time.
How to say the date
Chinese dates go from big to small: year, month, day. In speech the day is 号 (hào); in writing it is 日 (rì). The year is read digit by digit.
- 2026年10月16日 — 二零二六年十月十六号 (èr líng èr liù nián shíyuè shíliù hào), 16 October 2026.
- Add the weekday after it: 十月十六号，星期五.
| Chinese | Pinyin | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| 今天几号？ | jīntiān jǐ hào? | What's the date today? | |
| 今天星期几？ | jīntiān xīngqī jǐ? | What day is it today? | |
| 今天是星期一。 | jīntiān shì xīngqīyī. | Today is Monday. | |
| 我的生日是六月五号。 | wǒ de shēngrì shì liùyuè wǔ hào. | My birthday is June 5th. |
The question word simply takes the place of the answer: 星期几 ("week which?") asks for the weekday, 几号 for the date.
Yesterday, today, tomorrow
| Chinese | Pinyin | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| 前天 | qiántiān | the day before yesterday | |
| 昨天 | zuótiān | yesterday | |
| 今天 | jīntiān | today | |
| 明天 | míngtiān | tomorrow | |
| 后天 | hòutiān | the day after tomorrow | |
| 上个星期 | shàng ge xīngqī | last week | |
| 下个月 | xià ge yuè | next month | |
| 明年 | míngnián | next year |
上 (up) means "last" and 下 (down) means "next": 上个月 is last month, 下个星期 next week. Time in Chinese flows from top to bottom.
The four seasons
| Chinese | Pinyin | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| 春天 | chūntiān | spring | |
| 夏天 | xiàtiān | summer | |
| 秋天 | qiūtiān | autumn | |
| 冬天 | dōngtiān | winter |
Free Chinese cheat sheets
Numbers, colors, family, body parts, restaurant phrases and 50 essential sentences — printable PDFs with pinyin and English, sent to your inbox.
See the free PDFsFrequently asked questions
How do you say Monday in Chinese?
星期一 (xīngqīyī) — "week one". Also 周一 (zhōuyī).
Why is Sunday different?
Sunday is 星期天 or 星期日: instead of a number it takes 天 (sky, day) or 日 (sun, day). There is no "week seven".
How do you write the date in Chinese?
Year, month, day: 2026年10月16日.
From dates to reading
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