Structure of dates

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Dates in Chinese follow the order "year, month, day." This is in keeping with the larger "from big to small" trend in Chinese culture.

Structure

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

x 年 + y 月 + z 日

So April 1st, 2013 is 201341日. (Èr-líng-yī-sān nián yuè rì)

Note that 号 (hào) is commonly used in spoken Mandarin instead of 日 (rì): 201341号. (èr-líng-yī-sān nián yuè hào.) In written Chinese, however, you will see 日 (rì) rather than 号 (hào).

x 年 + y 月 + z 号

Examples

  • 1868 1 18 Yī-bā-liù-bā niányuè shí-bā hàoJanuary 18, 1868
  • 1910 8 9 Yī-jiǔ-yī-líng niányuè jiǔ hàoAugust 9, 1910
  • 2001 7 20 Èr-líng-líng-yī niányuè èrshí July 20th, 2001
  • 1 1 是 新年。yuè shì Xīnnián.January 1st is New Year's Day.
  • 12 24 是 平安夜。Shí-èryuè èrshí-sì shì Píng'ān Yè.December 24th is Christmas Eve.
  • 10 1 我们 去 上海。Shíyuèhào wǒmen qù Shànghǎi.We will go to Shanghai on October 1st.
  • 我 1990 7 出生。Wǒ yī-jiǔ-jiǔ-líng niányuè chūshēng.I was born in July 1990.
  • 你 的 生日 是 11 11 吗?Nǐ de shēngrì shì Shí-yīyuè shí-yī hào ma?Is your birthday November 11th?
  • 我 2006 4 17 认识 了 他。Wǒ èr-líng-líng-liù niányuè shí-qī hào rènshi le tā.I met him on April 17, 2006.
  • 1980 9 4 我们 结婚 了。Yī-jiǔ-bā-líng nián Jiǔyuèhào wǒmen jiéhūn le.We got married on September 4th, 1980.

See Also

Sources and further reading

Books