Days of the Week & Months in Chinese
星期一 to 星期天 and all twelve months — in Chinese they're all numbers, and this page proves it with audio
Days of the week
Day "one" — the Chinese week starts counting on Monday.
Never 星期七! Also written 星期日 (xīngqīrì) in formal contexts.
The 12 months
Month "one" — no month names to memorize, just numbers + 月.
Today, tomorrow and friends
One word in Chinese — used constantly.
周 (zhōu) is the snappier synonym: 周一 = Monday.
Months are moons — 月 is the moon character.
Here is the best news in Chinese vocabulary: there are no day or month names to memorize. Monday is "week-one" (星期一), Tuesday "week-two", and the months are just "one-month" (一月) through "twelve-month" (十二月). If you can count to twelve, you already know 19 calendar words — this page just adds the audio.
Two catches: Sunday breaks the pattern (星期天 or 星期日 — never 星期七), and January is 一月 while "one month (of duration)" is 一个月. You'll also constantly hear the compact synonym 周 (zhōu): 周一 is Monday, 周末 the weekend. Play everything above, then try saying today's date — the date converter tool assembles full dates for you.
How do you say the days of the week in Chinese?
星期 (xīngqī, week) + the number: 星期一 Monday through 星期六 Saturday. Sunday is 星期天 (spoken) or 星期日 (written) — the only day with a name instead of a number.
What is the difference between 星期, 周 and 礼拜?
Three words for "week". 星期 is the standard/taught one, 周 is the snappy written-and-spoken synonym (周一, 周末), and 礼拜 is colloquial-southern. Learn 星期, recognize the others.
Why is January 一月 but "one month" 一个月?
一月 (no measure word) names the calendar month of January; 一个月 (with 个) is a duration of one month. Same logic for 二月 February vs 两个月 two months — note the 两.
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