Dates in Chinese follow the order "year, month, day." This is in keeping
with the "from big to small" trend which pervades many facets of Chinese
culture.

Structure
---------

Dates are arranged from largest unit to smallest: *year, month, day*.

<div class="jiegou">
x 年 + y 月 + z 日

</div>
So April 1st, 2019 is
<strong>2019</strong>年<strong>4</strong>月<strong>1</strong>日
(<strong>èr-líng-yī-jiǔ</strong> nián <strong>Sì</strong>yuè
<strong>yī</strong> rì).

Note that 号 (hào) is commonly used in *spoken* Mandarin instead of 日
(rì):

<div class="jiegou">
x 年 + y 月 + z 号

</div>
The above example becomes:
<strong>2019</strong>年<strong>4</strong>月<strong>1</strong>号
(<strong>èr-líng-yī-jiǔ</strong> nián <strong>Sì</strong>yuè
<strong>yī</strong> hào). In written Chinese, however, you will see 日
(rì) rather than 号 (hào).

Examples
--------

<div class="liju">
-   1868 <em>年</em> 1 <em>月</em> 18
    <em>号</em><span class="pinyin">Yī-bā-liù-bā <em>nián</em>
    Yī<em>yuè</em> shíbā <em>hào</em></span><span class="trans">January
    18, 1868</span>
-   1910 <em>年</em> 8 <em>月</em> 9
    <em>号</em><span class="pinyin">Yī-jiǔ-yī-líng <em>nián</em>
    Bā<em>yuè</em> jiǔ <em>hào</em></span><span class="trans">August 9,
    1910</span>
-   2001 <em>年</em> 7 <em>月</em> 20
    <em>日</em><span class="pinyin">èr-líng-líng-yī <em>nián</em>
    Qī<em>yuè</em> èrshí <em>rì</em></span><span class="trans">July
    20th, 2001</span>
-   1 <em>月</em> 1 <em>日</em> 是
    新年。<span class="pinyin">Yī<em>yuè</em> yī <em>rì</em> shì
    Xīnnián.</span><span class="trans">January 1st is New Year's
    Day.</span>
-   12 <em>月</em> 24 <em>日</em> 是
    平安夜。<span class="pinyin">Shí-èr<em>yuè</em> èrshí-sì <em>rì</em>
    shì Píng'ān Yè.</span><span class="trans">December 24th is Christmas
    Eve.</span>
-   10 <em>月</em> 1 <em>号</em> 我们 去
    上海。<span class="pinyin">Shí<em>yuè</em> yī <em>hào</em> wǒmen qù
    Shànghǎi.</span><span class="trans">We will go to Shanghai on
    October 1st.</span>
-   我 1990 <em>年</em> 7 <em>月</em> 出生。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ
    Yī-jiǔ-jiǔ-líng <em>nián</em> Qī<em>yuè</em>
    chūshēng.</span><span class="trans">I was born in July 1990.</span>
-   你 的 生日 是 11 <em>月</em> 11
    <em>号</em>吗？<span class="pinyin">Nǐ de shēngrì shì
    Shíyī<em>yuè</em> shíyī <em>hào</em>
    ma?</span><span class="trans">Is your birthday November 11th?</span>
-   我 2006 <em>年</em> 4 <em>月</em> 17 <em>号</em> 认识 了
    他。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ èr-líng-líng-liù <em>nián</em>
    Sì<em>yuè</em> shíqī <em>hào</em> rènshi le
    tā.</span><span class="trans">I met him on April 17, 2006.</span>
-   1980 <em>年</em> 9 <em>月</em> 4 <em>号</em> 我们 结婚
    了。<span class="pinyin">Yī-jiǔ-bā-líng <em>nián</em>
    Jiǔ<em>yuè</em> sì <em>hào</em> wǒmen jiéhūn
    le.</span><span class="trans">We got married on September 4th,
    1980.</span>

</div>
See Also
--------

-   [Structure of numbers](Structure_of_numbers "wikilink")
-   [Structure of days of the
    week](Structure_of_days_of_the_week "wikilink")
-   [Structure of times](Structure_of_times "wikilink")

Sources and further reading
---------------------------

### Books

-   [Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1
    (3rd ed)](Integrated_Chinese:_Level_1,_Part_1_(3rd_ed) "wikilink") (pp.
    73-4)　[→buy](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0887276385/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=0887276385)
-   [New Practical Chinese Reader
    1 (新实用汉语课本1)](New_Practical_Chinese_Reader_1_(新实用汉语课本1) "wikilink") (pp.
    122-3)
    [→buy](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/7561910401/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=7561910401)
-   [New Practical Chinese Reader 1
    (新实用汉语课本1)(2nd ed)](New_Practical_Chinese_Reader_1_(新实用汉语课本1)(2nd_ed) "wikilink") (pp.
    141-2)
    [→buy](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/7561926235/ref%3das_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=7561926235)

[Category:A1 grammar points](Category:A1_grammar_points "wikilink")