How to Express the Date in Mandarin

  1. Counting the Number 10-99
EnglishMandarin NumberPīnyīn
10shí
11十一shíyī
12十二shí'èr
13十三shísān
14十四shísì
15十五shíwǔ
16十六shíliù
17十七shíqī
18十八shíbā
19十九shíjiǔ
20二十èrshí
21二十一èrshíyī
22二十二 èrshí'èr
23二十三èrshísān
24二十四èrshísì
25二十五èrshíwǔ
30三十sānshí
31三十一sānshíyī
32三十二sānshí'èr
40四十sìshí
47四十七sìshíqī
50五十wǔshí
60六十liùshí
70七十qīshí
80八十bāshí
90九十jiǔshí
91九十一jiǔshíyī
94九十四jiǔshísì
99九十九jiǔshíjiǔ

Number 11 is 10+1=(shí)+(yī)=十一(shíyī)

25 is 20+5=二十(èrshí)+(wǔ)=二十五(èrshíwǔ)

2. Months

Talking about the twelve months, we just use number 1-12 plus the word (yuè).(yuè) means month. See the table below to know the 12 months in Mandarin!

NoEnglishMandarinPinyin
1January一月Yī yuè
2February二月Èr yuè
3March三月Sān yuè
4April四月Sì yuè
5May五月Wǔ yuè
6June六月Liù yuè
7July七月Qī yuè
8August八月Bā yuè
9September九月Jiǔ yuè
10October十月Shí yuè
11November十一月Shíyī yuè
12December十二月Shí'èr yuè

3. Telling the Date

If you want to say the date, you just need to add the number and the word 号(hào) or (rì). 号(hào) is more common in spoken form whereas (rì) is more common in written/formal form. The formula is …..月(yuè) ……号(hào)

For examples:

January 1: 一月一号 (yī yuè yī hào)

February 13: 二月十三号 (èr yuè shísān hào)

July 8:七月八号 (qī yuè bā hào)

Let’s see the usage in sentences:

1.我们一月一号去北京。

Wǒmen yī yuè yī hào qù Běijīng.

We go to Beijing on January 1.

2.他们二月十三来福州。

Tāmen èr yuè shísān hào lái Fúzhōu.

They come to Fuzhou on February 13.

3.我们七月八号会印尼。

Wǒmen qī yuè bā hào huì Yìnní.

We are back to Indonesia on June 8.

In English we normally put the time words at the end of the sentence, bu in Mandarin, we put the time words after the subject. Then go to Beijing in Mandarin we say 去北京 (qù Běijīng)= go Beijing. We don’t translate the word to.

4. Asking about the Date

To ask about the date, let’s use the three sentences above:

*If the answer is: 我们一月一号去北京。Wǒmen yī yuè yī hào qù Běijīng.We go to Beijing on January 1.

Then the question is: 你们几月几号去北京?Nǐmen jǐ yuè jǐ hào qù Běijīng?

*If the answer is: 他们二月十三来福州。Tāmen èr yuè shísān hào lái Fúzhōu. They come to Fuzhou on February 13.

Then the question is:他们几月几号来福州?Tāmen jǐ yuè jǐ hào lái Fúzhōu?

The question word is 几(jǐ ) which means which, so 几月(jǐ yuè) means which month, and 几号 (jǐ hào) means which day (of the month). So the literal translation of the sentence above is : You which month which day go to Beijing? (What is the date do you go to Beijing?)

One more thing you need to pay attention is, change the number to question word 几(jǐ), and sometimes of course you need to change the subject.

Read and practice the following dialogue!

X: 你的家人几月几号来福州?

X: Nǐ de jiārén jǐ yuè jǐ hào lái Fúzhōu?

Y: 他们二月一号来福州。

Y: Tāmen èr yuè yī hào lái Fúzhōu.

X: 你们几月几号去日本?

X: Nǐmen jǐ yuè jǐ hào qù Rìběn?

Y:我们三月四号去日本。

Y: Wǒmen sān yuè sì hào qù Rìběn.

X: 你们几月几号会中国?

X: Nǐmen jǐ yuè hào huì Zhōngguó?

Y:我们三月二十号会中国。

Y: Wǒmen sān yuè èrshí hào huì Zhōngguó.

Filed under: Mandarin Chinese

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