Days, dates and the time
Chinese Foundations · Lesson 9 of 11 · About 16 minutes
Preview version — Chinese review in progress.
Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can say today's date and day of the week, and ask and tell the time on the hour.
Audio preview uses your device’s Chinese voice. It is not a recording.
Warm-up: do you remember?
Two quick questions from earlier lessons. Recalling before you learn makes the new material stick.
Meaning
What does 七 mean?
That is 九 (jiǔ).
That is 一 (yī).
Show the answer
Answer: A, seven.
七 (qī) means seven.
Characters
Which word means “dog”?
是 (shì) means to be (A is B).
你 (nǐ) means you.
Show the answer
Answer: A, 狗.
“dog” is 狗 (gǒu).
New words
Days of the week
The days of the week are numbered from Monday: 星期一 (Monday) to 星期六 (Saturday). Sunday is 星期天.
| Chinese | English |
|---|---|
| 星期一 xīngqīyī | Monday |
| 星期三 xīngqīsān | Wednesday |
| 星期六 xīngqīliù | Saturday |
| 星期天 xīngqītiān | Sunday |
今天星期三。
Jīntiān xīngqī sān.
Today is Wednesday.
明天星期几？
Míngtiān xīngqī jǐ?
What day is it tomorrow?
No 是 is needed with dates and days: 今天星期三 is a complete sentence.
Months, dates and the time
Months are numbered too: 一月 (January) to 十二月 (December). The day of the month is a number plus 号. Chinese goes from big to small: month first, then day.
今天三月八号。
Jīntiān sān yuè bā hào.
Today is March 8.
你几月几号去？
Nǐ jǐ yuè jǐ hào qù?
On what date are you going?
For the time, a number plus 点 (diǎn, o'clock). Ask with 几点.
现在几点？
Xiànzài jǐ diǎn?
What time is it now?
现在七点。
Xiànzài qī diǎn.
It is seven o'clock.
Not:
今天八号三月。But: 今天三月八号。 Jīntiān sān yuè bā hào.
Big to small: month before day.
Characters
Open a character to see how it is written, stroke by stroke, with its meanings and words.
What day is it?
David asks Anna about the date before a trip.
Listen first
Play the whole conversation and answer the questions before you open the transcript.
Listening
Listen first. What is the date today?
Show the answer
Answer: A, September 10.
安娜 says 今天九月十号: September 10.
Listening
What time is it?
Show the answer
Answer: B, eight o'clock.
大卫 says 现在八点: eight o'clock.
Show the transcript
大卫
安娜，今天几号？
Anna, what's the date today?
安娜
今天九月十号，星期五。
Today is September 10, a Friday.
大卫
明天我去买书。
Tomorrow I'm going to buy books.
安娜
现在几点？
What time is it now?
大卫
现在八点。
It's eight o'clock.
Speak: listen, record, compare
Listen to each model, record yourself, then play both and compare: the rhythm, the tones, the vowels. No automatic score: your ear is the judge.
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Recording is not available in this browser. Listen, then repeat aloud and compare by ear.
今天九月十号，星期五。
Jīntiān jiǔ yuè shí hào, xīngqī wǔ.
Today is September 10, a Friday.
现在几点？
Xiànzài jǐ diǎn?
What time is it now?
现在八点。
Xiànzài bā diǎn.
It's eight o'clock.
Practice
Meaning
What does 今天 mean?
That is 一 (yī).
That is 书 (shū).
Show the answer
Answer: B, today.
今天 (jīntiān) means today.
Characters
Which word means “tomorrow”?
今天 (jīntiān) means today.
星期 (xīngqī) means week.
Show the answer
Answer: A, 明天.
“tomorrow” is 明天 (míngtiān).
Pinyin
How do you read 昨天 (yesterday)?
Show the answer
Answer: C, zuótiān.
昨天 is read zuótiān. Check the tone mark on every syllable.
Listening
Listen. What does the word mean?
Cannot listen? Read it instead
星期 xīngqī
That would be 十 (shí).
That would be 她 (tā).
Show the answer
Answer: C, week.
You heard 星期 (xīngqī): week.
Pinyin
Type the pinyin of 月 (month). Tone marks or tone numbers are welcome.
Show the answer
Answer: yuè
月 is yuè in pinyin.
Grammar
How do you say Today is Sunday?
The day comes after 星期: 星期天.
Show the answer
Answer: C, 今天星期天。.
今天星期天。 Sunday is 星期天, and no 是 is needed.
Fill the gap
Complete: What time is it now?
现在＿＿点？
Show the answer
Answer: A, 几.
现在几点？ 几 asks for the number.
Word order
Put the words in order: Today is May 6.
- 六
- 号
- 五月
- 今天
Show the answer
今天五月六号 Jīntiān wǔ yuè liù hào.
Today is May 6.
今天五月六号。 Month before day.
Say the date
Every morning this week, say the date, the day and the time out loud in Chinese.
- 今天…月…号。
- 今天星期…。
- 现在…点。
Sentence frames
今天＿＿月＿＿号，星期＿＿。
Jīntiān ＿＿ yuè ＿＿ hào, xīngqī ＿＿.
Today is ..., ...
Record your attempt (three and a half minutes at most) and listen back:
Review and finish
Can you do this? If a line feels shaky, go back to that part before you move on.
- I can say today's date, month before day.
- I can name the days from 星期一 to 星期天.
- I can ask 现在几点？ and answer.
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Completing records that you finished the lesson. Mastery is separate: it grows as reviews bring the exercises back and you answer them correctly.