Structure of days of the week

星期 (xīngqī) means "week" in Chinese. This is also used to indicate which weekday you are talking about.

Structure

English	Chinese	Chinese 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	星期天	Xīngqītiān

Notice that Sunday is the only exception. Rather than a number, 天 (tiān) is used. More formally, Sunday is also referred to as 星期日 (xīngqīrì).

One other implication of this system that you may not have noticed: "day one" is Monday. In Chinese culture, the first day of the week is Monday, and not Sunday.

Examples

今天是星期一吗？ This 是 is optional.
Jīntiān shì Xīngqīyī ma?
Is today Monday?
明天星期五，太高兴了。 The optional 是 here is omitted.
Míngtiān Xīngqīwǔ , tài gāoxìng le.
Tomorrow is Friday. I'm so happy.
星期三我不在上海。
Xīngqīsān wǒ bù zài Shànghǎi.
I'm not here in Shanghai on Wednesday.
星期二早上我很忙。
Xīngqī'èr zǎoshang wǒ hěn máng.
I am busy on Tuesday morning.
你星期天要做什么？
Nǐ Xīngqītiān yào zuò shénme?
What are you doing on Sunday?
上个星期五我跟他见面了。
Shàng ge Xīngqīwǔ wǒ gēn tā jiànmiàn le.
I met him last Friday.
这个星期三晚上你有空吗？
Zhè ge Xīngqīsān wǎnshang nǐ yǒu kòng ma?
Are you free this Wednesday evening?
下个星期四是我的生日。
Xià ge Xīngqīsì shì wǒ de shēngrì.
My birthday is on next Thursday.
这个星期五晚上我们要去酒吧。
Zhè ge Xīngqīwǔ wǎnshang wǒmen yào qù jiǔbā.
We're going to a bar this Friday night.
星期六和星期天我们不上班。
Xīngqīliù hé Xīngqītiān wǒmen bù shàngbān.
Saturday and Sunday we don't work.

Other words for "week"

Hopefully this doesn't freak you out, but there are actually two other ways to say "week" in Chinese. You should still learn 星期 (xīngqī) first, and that's really all you need as a beginner.

The other words for "week" are 礼拜 (lǐbài) and 周 (zhōu). Skip them for now unless you really need them.

Structure of days of the week

Contents

Structure

Examples

Other words for "week"

See also

Sources and further reading

Books