Structure of dates
Dates in Chinese follow the order "year, month, day." This is in keeping with the larger "from big to small" trend in Chinese culture.
Contents
Structure
Dates are arranged from largest unit to smallest: year, month, day.
x 年 + y 月 + z 日
So April 1st, 2013 is: 2013 年 4 月 1 日. ( Èr-líng-yī-sān nián sì yuè yī rì)
Note that 号 (hào) is commonly used in spoken Mandarin instead of 日 (rì): 2013 年 4 月 1 号. ( èr-líng-yī-sān nián sì yuè yī hào.) In written Chinese, however, you will see 日 (rì) rather than 号 (hào).
x 年 + y 月 + z 号
Examples
- 1868 年 1 月 18 号
Yī-bā-liù-bā nián Yī yuè shí-bā hào
January 18, 1868
- 1910 年 8 月 9 号
Yī-jiǔ-yī-líng nián Bā yuè jiǔ hào
August 9, 1910
- 2001 年 7 月 20 日
Èr-líng-líng-yī nián Qī yuè èrshí rì
July 20th, 2001
- 1 月 1 日 是 新年。
Yī yuè yī rì shì Xīnnián.
January 1st is New Year's Day.
- 12 月 24 日 是 平安夜。
Shí-èr yuè èrshí-sì rì shì Píng'ān Yè.
December 24th is Christmas Eve.
- 10 月 1 号 我们 去 上海。
Shí yuè yī hào wǒmen qù Shànghǎi.
We will go to Shanghai on October 1st.
- 我 1990 年 7 月 出生。
Wǒ yī-jiǔ-jiǔ-líng nián Qī yuè chūshēng.
I was born in July 1990.
- 你 的 生日 是 11 月 11 号 吗？
Nǐ de shēngrì shì Shí-yī yuè shí-yī hào ma?
Is your birthday November 11th?
- 我 2006 年 4 月 17 号 认识 了 他。
Wǒ èr-líng-líng-liù nián Sì yuè shí-qī hào rènshi le tā.
I met him on April 17, 2006.
- 1980 年 9 月 4 号 我们 结婚 了。
Yī-jiǔ-bā-líng nián Jiǔ yuè sì hào wǒmen jiéhūn le.
We got married on September 4th, 1980.
See also
Sources and further reading
Books
- Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (pp. 73-4)
- New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (新实用汉语课本1) (pp. 122-3)
- New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (新实用汉语课本1)(2nd ed)(pp. 141-2)