Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar

talkiNG aBoUt CloCk time aNd CaleNdar time

49.2

49.2.4.3 referring to days before and after today

大前天 dà qiántiān three days ago

前天 qiántiān the day before yesterday

昨天 zuótiān yesterday

今天 jīntiān today

明天 míngtiān tomorrow

后天/後天 hòutiān the day after tomorrow

大后天/大後天 dà hòutiān three days from now

49.2.4.4 referring to the date of the month (the first, second, third of the month, etc.)
There are two words for ‘date’ that are used when referring to the date of the month, 号/號
hào and 日 rì. 日 rì is more formal than 号/號 hào and is used in calendars and other written
documents. To indicate the date, put the number directly before 日 rì or 号/號 hào:

the 5th (of the month) 五号/五號 or 五日

wǔ hào wǔ rì

the 22nd (of the month) 二十二号 or 二十二日

二十二號

èrshí’èr hào èrshí’èr rì

To ask about the date, say:

几号？ or 几日？

幾號？ 幾日？

jǐ hào? jǐ rì?

what is the date? what is the date?

今天几号？ or 今天几月几号？

今天幾號？ 今天幾月幾號？

Jīntiān jǐ hào? Jīntiān jǐ yuè jǐ hào?

What is today’s date? What is today’s date?

(What is today’s month and date?)

49.2.4.5 reciting complete days and asking about dates
In Mandarin, complete dates are presented from the largest unit of time to the smallest unit
of time as follows:

year + month + date

一九九八年，七月，三十一日

yī jiǔ jiǔ bā nián, qīyuè, sānshí yī rì

July 31, 1998

二零零零年一月一日

èr líng líng líng nián yī yuè yī rì

January 1, 2000

一九八二年十月五号

一九八二年十月五號

yī jiǔ bā èr nián shí yuè wǔ hào

October 5, 1982