You can say the date in Mandarin every day in class. This is a great way to practise and develop your Mandarin skills!
The 1-2-3 challenge
Join Scottish pupils as they give Mandarin a go!
Listen and guess what they are saying before trying yourself.
GIRL 1: Jīn tiān jǐ hào
BOY: Èr líng èr sì nián
GIRL 2: Liù yuè
GIRL 3: Èr shí sì hào
GIRL 4: Xīng qí èr
Tip: This video can be used as an interactive introduction to this topic or as a recap on key vocabulary and phrases already learnt.
Remember!
It doesn't matter if your pronunciation isn't perfect. Try your best and have fun!
Days
Use numbers from 1 – 6 after Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.xīngqī to make the words for Monday to Saturday.
Sunday is a bit different and uses Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.rì or Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.tiān, instead of a number. Both of these words mean ‘day’.
| Mandarin | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | xīng qī yī | Monday |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | xīng qī 'èr | Tuesday |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | xīng qī sān | Wednesday |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | xīng qī sì | Thursday |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | xīng qī wǔ | Friday |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | xīng qī liù | Saturday |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. or Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | xīng qī rì or xīng qī rì | Sunday |
If you want to say that you do something on a certain day of the week, you can start the sentence with the day.
For example:
- Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.Xīng qī yī, wǒ qù xué xiào - I go to school on Monday.
- Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.Xīngqī liù, wǒ tī zúqiú - I play football on Saturday.
Months
Imagine how difficult it is for people who are learning English to remember our complicated names for the months of the year.
In Mandarin, it is much easier – just use the numbers from 1-12 with Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.yuè which means ‘moon’ or ‘month’.
| Mandarin | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | yī yuè | January |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | èr yuè | February |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | sān yuè | March |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | sì yuè | April |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | wǔ yuè | May |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | liù yuè | June |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | qī yuè | July |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | bā yuè | August |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | jiǔ yuè | September |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | shí yuè | October |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | shí yī yuè | November |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | shí èr yuè | December |
Did you know?
Traditionally, the Chinese calendar was closely associated with the phases of the moon. This is what we call the ‘lunar calendar’ and shows us why the words for ‘moon’ and ‘month’ are the same in Mandarin.
Dates
If you want to know what the date is today, you can ask:
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.Jīn tiān jǐ hào?
When we say the date in English, we usually start with the day of the week, then the number of the month, the month and finish with the year. For example, Tuesday, 24th June 2024.
In China, the opposite order is used:
year - month - number - day
Example:
- Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.
2024 nián 6 yuè 24 hào xīng qī 'èr - 2024 June 24th Tuesday
Did you know?
As well as the words for ‘yesterday’, ‘today’ and ‘tomorrow’, Mandarin also has special words for ‘the day before yesterday’ and ‘the day after tomorrow’:
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.qiántiān - the day before yesterday
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.zuótiān - yesterday
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.jīntiān - today
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.míngtiān - tomorrow
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.hòutiān - the day after tomorrow
Take your learning further
To learn more about numbers check out our Mandarin: Numbers guide.
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