Structure of days of the week

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星期 (xīngqī) is used to refer to the days of the week in Chinese. In English, this is similar to the ending "-day" in the word "Monday".

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
xīngqīyī xīngqī'èr xīngqīsān xīngqīsì xīngqīwǔ xīngqīliù xīngqītiān

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
xīngqīyī xīngqī'èr xīngqīsān xīngqīsì xīngqīwǔ xīngqīliù xīngqītiān
周一 周二 周三 周四 周五 周六 周日/周天
zhōuyī zhōu'èr zhōusān zhōu sì zhōu wǔ zhōu liù zhōu rì / zhōu tiān
礼拜一 礼拜二 礼拜三 礼拜四 礼拜五 礼拜六 礼拜天
lǐbài yī lǐbài èr lǐbài sān lǐbài sì lǐbài wǔ lǐbài liù lǐbài tiān

Example

  • 今天 是 星期一 吗?Jīntiān shì xīngqī yī ma?Is today Monday?
  • 明天 周五,太 高兴 了。Míngtiān zhōu wǔ , tài gāoxìngle.Tomorrow is Friday, I'm so happy.
  • 星期一 我们 要 上班。Xīngqī yī wǒmen yào shàngbān.We will go to work on Monday.
  • 星期二 我 很 忙。Xīngqī'èr wǒ hěn máng.I am busy on Tuesday.
  • 周三 要 做 什么?zhōusān yào zuò shénme?What are you doing on Wednesday?
  • 我们 礼拜六礼拜天 不 在 上海。Wǒmen lǐbài liù lǐbài tiān bùzài Shànghǎi.Saturday and Sunday we will not be in Shanghai.
  • 上 个 星期三 我 跟 他 见面 了。Shàng gè xīngqīsān wǒ gēn tā jiànmiànle.I met him last Wednesday.
  • 这 个 星期三 我 有空。Zhè gè xīngqīsān wǒ yǒu kòng.This Wednesday I (have time) am free.
  • 下 个 星期四 是 我 的 生日。Xià gè xīngqīsì shì wǒ de shēngrì.My birthday is on next Thursday.
  • 我们 每 个 周五 都 去 酒吧。Wǒmen měi gè zhōu wǔ dōu qù jiǔbā.We go to a bar every Friday.

See also

Sources and further reading

Books