A full Chinese date is built on one organising principle: largest unit to smallest. You name the year (年, nián) first, then the month (月, yuè), then the day (日, rì / 号, hào) — the exact reverse of the American "March 5, 2024" and, conveniently, the same order as the international standard. 二〇二四年三月五日 (èr líng èr sì nián sān yuè wǔ rì) is "5 March 2024." This big-to-small habit isn't special to dates; it's how Chinese orders clock times (hour before minute), addresses (province before street), and full names (surname before given name). Learn the date and you've learned the whole culture's way of nesting information.
The frame: 年 → 月 → 日/号
Each slot is a number plus its unit word. The pieces are individually easy; the discipline is keeping them in order.
| Unit | Structure | Example | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 年 | digits + 年 | 二〇二四年 | èr líng èr sì nián |
| Month 月 | number + 月 | 三月 (March) | sān yuè |
| Day 号/日 | number + 号/日 | 五号 / 五日 (the 5th) | wǔ hào / wǔ rì |
Months are the simplest thing in the whole number system: just the number 1–12 plus 月. 一月 (yīyuè) is January, 十二月 (shí'èryuè) is December — no separate month names to memorise, unlike English. Days are the number plus 号 (hào, everyday spoken) or 日 (rì, written and formal): 五号 and 五日 both mean "the 5th," a register difference explored on the 号 vs 日 page.
今天几月几号？
jīntiān jǐ yuè jǐ hào
What's the date today?
今天五月二十号。
jīntiān wǔ yuè èrshí hào
Today is May 20th.
我的生日是三月十五号。
wǒ de shēngrì shì sān yuè shíwǔ hào
My birthday is March 15th.
To ask the date you slot 几 ("how many / which") into the frame: 今天几月几号? for the month-and-day, or just 今天几号? if you only need the day of the month. The answer drops 几 and fills in the numbers — the frame never changes.
Reading the year: digit by digit, not as a big number
This is the rule most beginners get wrong, and it's worth its own heading. A year is not read as an ordinary number. You do not say 2024 as 两千零二十四 ("two thousand and twenty-four"). Instead you read the four figures one digit at a time, like reciting a code: 二〇二四年 = èr líng èr sì nián — "two, zero, two, four, year."
The zero in a year is 〇 (líng) — you may also write it 零, but the circle 〇 is standard in dates. A few worked examples fix the habit:
| Year | Chinese | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 二〇二四年 | èr líng èr sì nián |
| 2008 | 二〇〇八年 | èr líng líng bā nián |
| 1999 | 一九九九年 | yī jiǔ jiǔ jiǔ nián |
| 1990 | 一九九〇年 | yī jiǔ jiǔ líng nián |
他是一九九八年出生的。
tā shì yī jiǔ jiǔ bā nián chūshēng de
He was born in 1998.
二〇〇八年北京举办了奥运会。
èr líng líng bā nián Běijīng jǔbàn le Àoyùnhuì
In 2008 Beijing hosted the Olympics.
The digits themselves use the plain forms (一 through 九 and 〇); there's no place value and no 千/百, so the 二 vs 两 question never arises inside a year — it's always 二, read as a bare digit, and each figure is one of the digits 0–10 you already know. For more on decades, two-digit shorthand years, and eras, see the dedicated reading years page.
Putting the whole date together
Stack the three slots in order and you have a complete date. The written/formal style favours 日; everyday speech favours 号. Watch how register shifts the day word while the order stays rock-steady.
会议定在二〇二四年三月五日。
huìyì dìng zài èr líng èr sì nián sān yuè wǔ rì
The meeting is set for 5 March 2024. (formal)
国庆节是十月一号。
Guóqìngjié shì shí yuè yī hào
National Day is October 1st. (spoken)
请在表格上填写出生年月日。
qǐng zài biǎogé shang tiánxiě chūshēng nián yuè rì
Please fill in your date of birth on the form. (formal)
今年的春节是二月十号。
jīnnián de Chūnjié shì èr yuè shí hào
This year's Spring Festival is February 10th.
The last example carries a small warning built into it: February is 二月 (èr yuè), never 两月. Months are ordinal-style labels, so the "two" is always the plain digit 二 — the same reason a floor or an ordinal takes 二. A weekday (Monday, Tuesday…) works on a completely different pattern (星期 + number) and is covered on the days of the week page.
Common Mistakes
1. Using English date order. Chinese is always big-to-small: year, then month, then day.
❌ 五号三月二〇二四年
Incorrect order — Chinese runs largest to smallest: 二〇二四年三月五号.
✅ 二〇二四年三月五号
èr líng èr sì nián sān yuè wǔ hào
5 March 2024.
2. Reading the year as a big number. A year is read digit by digit, not as thousands.
❌ 两千零二十四年
Incorrect for a year — read the figures one by one: 二〇二四年.
✅ 二〇二四年
èr líng èr sì nián
the year 2024, read 'two-zero-two-four'.
3. Saying 两月 for February. Months are labels, so 'two' is the plain digit 二.
❌ 我的生日在两月。
Incorrect — February is 二月, never 两月.
✅ 我的生日在二月。
wǒ de shēngrì zài èr yuè
My birthday is in February.
4. Using 天 for a calendar day. 天 counts days as a duration; a date on the calendar takes 号/日.
❌ 我三天出生。
Incorrect — 三天 means 'three days' (duration); 'born on the 3rd' is 三号出生.
✅ 我三号出生。
wǒ sān hào chūshēng
I was born on the 3rd.
Key Takeaways
- Dates run big to small: year 年 → month 月 → day 日/号. 二〇二四年三月五日 = 5 March 2024.
- Years are read digit by digit (二〇二四年 = "two-zero-two-four"), never as a thousands number; the zero is 〇 (líng).
- Months are just number + 月 (一月 = January, 十二月 = December); February is 二月, never 两月.
- Days are number + 号 (spoken) or 日 (formal/written): 五号 = 五日 = "the 5th."
- Ask with 几: 今天几月几号? The frame stays fixed — only the numbers change.
Now practice Chinese
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Start learning Chinese→Related Topics
- Reading Years (二〇二四年)HSK 1 — A year in Chinese is read one digit at a time and capped with 年: 二〇二四年 is 'two-zero-two-four, year', not 'twenty twenty-four'. The 2s stay 二 (never 两), 一 keeps its plain yī, and zero is 〇/零 (líng).
- 号 vs 日 (Day of the Month)HSK 1 — 号 (hào) and 日 (rì) both mark the day of the month — 五号 and 五日 are the same date — but 号 is the everyday spoken word and 日 is the formal written one. Same meaning, different register.
- Days of the Week (星期)HSK 1 — Weekdays are 星期 + a number, Monday to Saturday (星期一…星期六), and Sunday breaks the pattern as 星期天 or 星期日 — never 星期七. 周 and 礼拜 are register variants; ask 'which day' with 星期几.
- 二 vs 两HSK 1 — Chinese has two words for 'two': 二 (èr) is the counting digit — used in ordinals, tens, years and decimals — while 两 (liǎng) means 'two of something' before a measure word and before 千/万/亿.