Section 01
Vocabulary: Dates & Time
今天
Today
明天
Tomorrow
昨天
Yesterday
现在
Now / Right now
年
Year
月
Month
日
Day / Date (Written)
号
Day / Date (Spoken)
星期
Week / Day of week
星期天 / 星期日
Sunday
点
O'clock
分
Minute
刻
Quarter (15 mins)
半
Half (30 mins)
早上
Early Morning
上午
Morning (Before noon)
中午
Noon
下午
Afternoon
晚上
Evening / Night
生日
Birthday
Question Words: To ask questions about time, we combine 几 (jǐ - how many) with the time words. For example: 几月几号 (What month & day?), 星期几 (What day of the week?), 几点 (What time?).
Practice Time
Interactive Vocabulary Games
Section 02
Grammar Points
1. Chinese Dates: Big to Small (年, 月, 日/号)
In Chinese, time is always expressed from the largest unit to the smallest. (Year ➔ Month ➔ Day).
Important: When reading a year, you do not read it as a big number (like "Two thousand twenty-four"). You must read each individual digit one by one, followed by 年.
Important: When reading a year, you do not read it as a big number (like "Two thousand twenty-four"). You must read each individual digit one by one, followed by 年.
___ 年 + ___ 月 + ___ 号/日
1.
一九八九年七月十四号
yī jiǔ bā jiǔ nián qī yuè shí sì hào
July 14, 1989 (1-9-8-9 Year, 7 Month, 14 Day)
2.
二零二六年五月三号
èr líng èr liù nián wǔ yuè sān hào
May 3, 2026 (2-0-2-6 Year, 5 Month, 3 Day)
2. Days of the Week (星期)
Days of the week are extremely easy. Just put 星期 (xīng qī) followed by a number from 1 to 6 (Monday = 1, Saturday = 6). The only exception is Sunday, which uses 天 (tiān) or 日 (rì) instead of the number 7.
星期 + Number (1-6) *Exception: 星期天 / 星期日 (Sunday)
1.
星期一
xīng qī yī
Monday (Week 1)
2.
星期五
xīng qī wǔ
Friday (Week 5)
3. Telling Time (点, 分, 刻)
To tell time, state the hour with 点 (diǎn) and the minutes with 分 (fēn). You can also use 半 (bàn) for half-past, and 一刻 (yí kè) for a quarter-past. Remember: for 2 o'clock, always use 两点 (liǎng diǎn), never 二点!
Time of Day + ___ 点 + ___ 分/刻/半
1.
上午十点二十分
shàng wǔ shí diǎn èr shí fēn
10:20 AM
2.
下午两点一刻
xià wǔ liǎng diǎn yí kè
2:15 PM
3.
晚上八点半
wǎn shang bā diǎn bàn
8:30 PM
4. Asking Time Questions with 几 (jǐ)
Because 几 (jǐ) asks "how many," we use it to replace the number in the sentence to form a question.
1.
今天几月几号？
Jīn tiān jǐ yuè jǐ hào?
What is today's date? (What month, what day?)
2.
明天星期几？
Míng tiān xīng qī jǐ?
What day of the week is tomorrow?
3.
现在几点？
Xiàn zài jǐ diǎn?
What time is it right now?
Section 03
Reading Practice in Context
Choose a context below to see how dates and times are used in conversation.
我们的生日
Our Birthdays (Presentational)
你好！我叫李明。我的生日是一九九八年十月五号。我有一个哥哥和一个妹妹。我哥哥的生日是二零零零年三月十二号。我妹妹的生日是二零零四年八月二十号。明天是我妹妹的生日！
Hello! My name is Li Ming. My birthday is October 5th, 1998. I have one older brother and one younger sister. My older brother's birthday is March 12th, 2000. My younger sister's birthday is August 20th, 2004. Tomorrow is my younger sister's birthday!
现在几点？
What time is it? (Dialogue)
A
王芳，现在几点？
Wáng Fāng, xiàn zài jǐ diǎn?
Wang Fang, what time is it right now?
B
现在是上午十点一刻。
Xiàn zài shì shàng wǔ shí diǎn yí kè.
Right now it is 10:15 AM in the morning.
A
今天是星期几？
Jīn tiān shì xīng qī jǐ?
What day of the week is today?
B
今天是星期五。昨天是星期四。
Jīn tiān shì xīng qī wǔ. Zuó tiān shì xīng qī sì.
Today is Friday. Yesterday was Thursday.
A
太好了！明天是星期六。
Tài hǎo le! Míng tiān shì xīng qī liù.
Great! Tomorrow is Saturday.
Ready to test yourself?
Practice Reading — Comprehension Quiz
Answer multiple-choice questions on both passages · Instant feedback & explanations
Section 04
Listening Practice in Context
Listen to the audio, then click the words in the correct order to build the sentence.
号
月
是
几
生日
你的
几
是
现在
下午
一刻
两点
Select a context below and practice listening to dates and times.
Birthday Announcement
Listen to the speaker give their birth date (Year, Month, Day)
Speed:
Daily Time Check
Listen to the speaker state the current time of day
Speed:
Ready to test yourself?
Practice Listening — Comprehension Quiz
Answer multiple-choice questions on both passages · Instant feedback & explanations
Cultural Note
The "Big to Small" Philosophy
In Western cultures, addresses and dates start small (Day ➔ Month ➔ Year) or (House ➔ Street ➔ City). In Chinese culture, the philosophy is to establish the largest, broadest context first, and then zoom into the specifics. This applies to dates (Year ➔ Month ➔ Day), addresses (Country ➔ City ➔ Street), and even names (Family Name ➔ Given Name)!