年 · 月 · 日 · 点
Dates, years, ages and times in Chinese
Chinese dates run from the largest unit to the smallest, and every part is a number plus a unit word: 年 year, 月 month, 日 day. Learn 1 to 31 and the five unit words here and you can read any calendar.
Years: digit by digit
A year is read one digit at a time, then 年 nián: 2026 is 二〇二六年 èr líng èr liù nián. The pinyin standard gives the same pattern for 2008, èr líng líng bā nián. In a year the zero is written 〇, because the national numerals standard treats the year as a label rather than a quantity (more on 零 and 〇).
| Year | Characters | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| 1949 | 一九四九年 | yī jiǔ sì jiǔ nián |
| 2000 | 二〇〇〇年 | èr líng líng líng nián |
| 2008 | 二〇〇八年 | èr líng líng bā nián |
| 2026 | 二〇二六年 | èr líng èr liù nián |
Months: a number and 月
Months have no names, only numbers: January is 一月, “one month”. February is 二月, with 二 because it is a position in a sequence.
| Month | Characters | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| January | 一月 | yī yuè |
| February | 二月 | èr yuè |
| March | 三月 | sān yuè |
| April | 四月 | sì yuè |
| May | 五月 | wǔ yuè |
| June | 六月 | liù yuè |
| July | 七月 | qī yuè |
| August | 八月 | bā yuè |
| September | 九月 | jiǔ yuè |
| October | 十月 | shí yuè |
| November | 十一月 | shíyī yuè |
| December | 十二月 | shí'èr yuè |
Days and weekdays
The day of the month is a number plus 日 rì in writing or 号 hào in speech: the 8th is 八日 or 八号, the 31st 三十一日. Weekdays are numbered from Monday, after 星期 xīngqī, “week”; Sunday is the exception, 星期日 or 星期天.
| Day | Characters | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 星期一 | xīngqīyī |
| Tuesday | 星期二 | xīngqī'èr |
| Wednesday | 星期三 | xīngqīsān |
| Thursday | 星期四 | xīngqīsì |
| Friday | 星期五 | xīngqīwǔ |
| Saturday | 星期六 | xīngqīliù |
| Sunday | 星期日 / 星期天 | xīngqīrì / xīngqītiān |
A full date: 二〇二六年十月八日，星期四, Thursday 8 October 2026.
Ages: a number and 岁
Age is a number followed by 岁 suì: 十二岁 (12), 七十六岁 (76, the example in the numerals standard). Two is 两岁, because 岁 counts like a measure word. Older people may also give their age by the traditional count, in which a baby is one at birth, so an age can differ by a year from the Western one.
Clock times: 点 and 分
The hour is a number plus 点 diǎn, the minutes a number plus 分 fēn: 4:40 in the afternoon is 下午四点四十分 xiàwǔ sì diǎn sìshí fēn. Two o'clock is 两点, not 二点. Half past is 半 bàn (三点半, 3:30) and a quarter is 一刻 yī kè. Morning is 上午 shàngwǔ, afternoon 下午, evening 晚上 wǎnshang; timetables use the 24-hour clock.
Questions from learners and teachers
How do you say the year 2026 in Chinese?
二〇二六年, read digit by digit: èr líng èr liù nián. Years are not read as a whole number (not 两千零二十六). The national standard writes the zero of a year as 〇 because the year is a label, though 二零二六年 is also seen.
What order does a Chinese date go in?
Biggest unit first: year, month, day, then the weekday. 8 October 2026 is 二〇二六年十月八日, and 1 July 1997 is 一九九七年七月一日 (the example in the national standard on numerals).
Is it 日 or 号 for the day?
Both mean the day of the month. 日 rì is the written form and 号 hào the usual spoken one: you write 十月八日 and say 十月八号.
How do you say your age in Chinese?
Number plus 岁 suì: 我十二岁 (I am twelve), 七十六岁 (seventy-six). Two years old uses 两: 两岁. To ask a child, 你几岁了? (nǐ jǐ suì le); to ask a teenager or adult, 你多大了? (nǐ duō dà le).