No January-to-December memorization: Chinese dates are just numbers. Months are numbered 1-12, weekdays are numbered 1-6 (plus a word for Sunday).
Months and dates
Month = number + 月： 一月 January through 十二月 December. Date = month + day: 五月十五号 = May 15 （号 in speech, 日 in writing). Year-month-day order, biggest first: 2026年11月14号. Birthday: 你的生日是 几月几号？
Weekdays
| 星期一 | Monday | 星期五 | Friday |
| 星期二 | Tuesday | 星期六 | Saturday |
| 星期三 | Wednesday | 星期天 / 星期日 | Sunday |
| 星期四 | Thursday |
星期天/星期日 is the unnumbered exception. Taiwan and the south also use 礼拜一 and 周一 - three parallel systems, all mutually understood.
The relative set
Days: 前天 (day before yesterday), 昨天， 今天， 明天， 后天. Weeks: 上个星期/这个星期/下个星期. Months: 上个月/这个月/下个月. Add 的 for specifics: 昨天晚上的电影. Time adverbs sit before the verb: 我明天去 - the word-order rule from the structure guide.
Dates in digits and in speech
Numerals mix with characters freely: 2026/11/14 and 2026年11月14日 are both standard. In speech the year reads digit-by-digit - 二零二六年 - and 几月几号 is the everyday question frame: 你几号回来？ ("which day are you back?"). One useful distinction: 号 is spoken, 日 is written - 五月五日 in print, 五月五号 in conversation. And duration, not the date, takes 天： 我待三天 - "I am staying three days".
Common questions
How do you say the months in Chinese?
Number + 月: 一月 (January) through 十二月 (December). No names to memorize - the system is purely numeric.
How are weekdays named in Chinese?
星期 + number: 星期一 (Monday) to 星期六 (Saturday), with 星期天/星期日 for Sunday. Taiwan also uses 周一/礼拜一 variants.
How do you write a date in Chinese?
Biggest to smallest: year-month-day - 2026年11月14号. 号 is spoken, 日 written. "What's today's date?" is 今天几月几号？