Structure of days of the week

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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.
  • 周三 要 做 什么?What are you doing on Wednesday?
  • 我们 礼拜六礼拜天 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

Sources and further reading

Books