Structure of days of the week

There are several ways to refer to the days of the week in Chinese. (Fortunately, they're all pretty easy.)

Structure

Days of the week in Chinese are formed by the word week followed by a number:

Days of the week

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
星期一	星期二	星期三	星期四	星期五	星期六	星期天

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).

As well as 星期 (xīngqī), two other words for week can be used:

• 周 (zhōu)
• 礼拜 (lĭbài)

So a more complete table of days of the week is:

Other ways to say days of the week

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
星期一	星期二	星期三	星期四	星期五	星期六	星期天
周一	周二	周三	周四	周五	周六	周日/周天
礼拜一	礼拜二	礼拜三	礼拜四	礼拜五	礼拜六	礼拜天

Example

• 今天 是 星期一 吗？Is today Monday?
• 明天 周五，太 高兴 了。Tomorrow is Friday, I'm so happy.
• 星期一 我们 要 上班。We will go to work on Monday.
• 星期二 我 很 忙。I am busy on Tuesday.
• 你 周三 要 做 什么？What are you doing on Wednesday?
• 我们 礼拜六 和 礼拜天 不 在 上海。Saturday and Sunday we will not be in Shanghai.
• 上 个 星期三 我 跟 他 见面 了。Last Wednesday I met with him.
• 这 个 星期三 我 有空。This Wednesday I (have time) am free.
• 下 个 星期四 是 我 的 生日。Next Thursday is my birthday.
• 我们 每 个 周五 都 去 酒吧。Every Friday we go to a bar.

See also

• Structure of numbers
• Structure of dates

Sources and further reading

Books

• New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (新实用汉语课本1) (p. 123) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (新实用汉语课本1)(2nd ed) (p. 142) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (p. 72) →buy