ChineseGrammarWiki/ancien/Chinese-Grammar-Wiki/MD/A1/8.mw

{{Grammar Box}} 

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 days of the week]]
*[[Structure of times]]

== Sources and further reading ==

=== Books ===

* [[Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed)]] (pp. 73-4)　[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 →buy]
* [[New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (新实用汉语课本1)]] (pp. 122-3) [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 →buy]
* [[New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (新实用汉语课本1)(2nd ed)]] (pp. 141-2) [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 →buy]

[[Category:A1 grammar points]]
{{Used for|Expressing time and date}}
{{Basic Grammar|年|A1|Number + 年 + Number + 月 + Number + 日|今天 是 <em>2011年 11月 11日/号</em> 。|grammar point|ASGT3KF6}}
{{Rel char|月}}
{{Rel char|号}}
{{Rel char|日}}
{{Similar|Structure of numbers}}  
{{Similar|Structure of days of the week}}  
{{Similar|Structure of times}}
{{POS|Numbers}}