学生Chinese for you Time and date

Explanations and Practice

1. It’s really easy to tell the date in Chinese. To ask about the date, we use this question: 几月几号? jĭ yuè jĭ hào? It literally means “Which month, which day?” NOTE: The character for „day” is often written as (rì), but it is nonetheless usually read as “hào” ( is the correct written version; while is merely a conventional spoken version).

For telling the year, simply say the year number-by-number, followed by the word nián:

2012 :èr líng yī èr nián

1990 :yī jiŭ jiŭ líng nián

There are no special words for month names. Simply say the number of the month, followed by the word yuè:

1. January: 一月 yī yuè
2. February: 二月 èr yuè
3. March: 三月 sān yuè
4. April: 四月 sì yuè
5. May: 五月 wŭ yuè
6. June: 六月 liù yuè
7. July: 七月 qī yuè
8. August: 八月 bā yuè
9. September: 九月 jiŭ yuè
10. October: 十月 shí yuè
11. November: 十一月 shíyī yuè
12. December: 十二月 shí’èr yuè

2. is a question particle used to ask about quantities up to 10. It can be translated as “how many?”. must be followed by a measure word.

+ measure word + noun

Examples:

你有几本书? Nĭ yŏu jĭ běn shū? How many books do you have?
他有几台电脑? Tā yŏu jĭ tái diànnăo? How many computers do you have?

NOTE: the basic sentence structure (SVO) remains the same!

Subject + + + measure word + object?

3. The names for the days of the week are formed thus:

1. Monday 星期一 xīngqīyī
2. Tuesday 星期二 xīngqī’èr
3. Wednesday 星期三 xīngqīsān
4. Thursday 星期四 xīngqīsì
5. Friday 星期五 xīngqīwŭ
6. Saturday 星期六 xīngqīliù
7. Sunday 星期天 xīngqītiān (星期日 xīngqīrì is a more official version for Sunday, but it is also acceptable in spoken language)

To ask about the day of the week, use the question 星期几

今天是星期几?  昨天是星期几?

明天是星期几? 

4. To ask about the time, we use this question: 现在几点? xiànzài jĭ diăn?  

To tell the time, we use the following expressions:

…… …diăn (o’clock): 现在一点 (It’s one o’clock) 

……点半 … diăn bàn (half past …): 现在一点半 (It’s half past one) 

…… …… … diăn … fēn (… hours … minutes): 现在一点二十分 (It’s 1:20) 

……点一刻 … diăn yī kè (quarter past…): 现在一点一刻 (It’s 1:15) 

…… …… chà … fēn … diăn (… minutes to …): 现在差五分两点(It’s 1:55) 

Exercise 1

Adjust the equivalent in Chinese characters.

yī yuè -
sān yuè -
wŭ yuè -
bā yuè -
xīngqīyī -
xīngqīsì -
xīngqī -
nián -

Exercise 2

Match pictures with descriptions.

Exercise 3

Click on correct numbers (in characters) in correct order to write the date in characters.

  • O[líng]
  • [yī]
  • [èr]
  • [sān]
  • [sì]
  • [wŭ]
  • [liù]
  • [qī]
  • [bā]
  • [jiŭ]
  • [shí]
  • [nián]
  • [yuè]
  • [hào]
1990/8/15 -
1998/7/4 -
1945/6/6 -
2011/2/1 -
2002/5/7 -

Exercise 4

Fill in the blanks using the correct day of the week.

今天是星期三。昨天是星期几?
Jīntiān shì xīngqīsān. Zuótiān shì xīngqī jĭ?
昨天是星期二。明天是星期几?
Zuótiān shì xīngqī’èr. Míngtiān shì xīngqī jĭ?
明天是星期三。前天是星期几?
Míngtiān shì xīngqīsān. Qiántiān shì xīngqī jĭ?
昨天是星期一。明天是星期几?
Zuótiān shì xīngqīyī. Míngtiān shì xīngqī jĭ?

Exercise 5

Match questions with answers.

你有几本汉语书?
Nĭ yŏu jĭ běn hànyŭ shū?
你有几台电脑?
Nĭ yŏu jĭ tái diànnăo?
你是哪国人?
Nĭ shì nă guó rén?
你是老师吗?
Nĭ shì lăoshī ma?
你有汉语老师吗?
Nĭ yŏu hànyŭ lăoshī ma?

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average evaluation for this lesson: 7.7

Latest comments

  • Massimo Imperiali
    14.05.2020 18:19
    ok!
  • Massimo Imperiali
    08.05.2020 11:30
    ok
  • Massimo Imperiali
    08.05.2020 11:26
    ok
  • Paweł Płachecki
    19.11.2019 20:54
    Best
  • Elis Nycander
    31.07.2017 21:08
    I think the second example in 2., Explanations and Practice, is wrong. It says "Ta you ji tai diannao" so it's "How many computers does he have?" not "How many computers do you have?"
  • Jazlyn Manfredonia
    24.01.2017 06:22
    You need to have more than one conversation so I give you 2
  • Grace Sumidanu
    18.03.2014 22:46
    Przystępnie i łatwo.
  • Raimo Pullat
    10.06.2013 16:23
    Keerulised harjutused
  • Marius Lapė
    29.05.2013 10:14
    Väga huvitavad teemad.
  • Esztora Petőfi
    16.05.2013 14:50
    Érdekes és hasznos.
  • Vaclav Vrana
    14.05.2013 10:47
    Myslím, že ty informace mají velkou hodnotu.
  • Blanka Slavik
    14.05.2013 10:38
    Tento zvuk je veľmi príjemný :)
  • Donata Cazacu
    13.05.2013 10:15
    Cuvinte utile
  • Андрей Врабчев
    10.05.2013 13:36
    Упражненията са трудни.
  • Monika Kozłowska
    27.01.2013 14:19
    brak nagrań dźwiekowych przy niektórych linijkach tekstu

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