Day 9: Time and dates
Two gifts and one hard rule.
★ Months and weekdays are numbers. January is 一月 (month one). Monday is 星期一 (week one). There is nothing to memorise — compare the twelve arbitrary month names you had to learn in English.
⚠️ ★ But the time expression must come BEFORE the verb, and English speakers break this rule constantly. 我明天去 — "I tomorrow go." Never 我去明天.
1. ★ Everything runs big to small
### Year → month → day. Hour → minute. Country → city → street.
2026年8月24日 — èr líng èr liù nián bā yuè èrshísì rì
★ The opposite of English, and consistent everywhere — dates, times, addresses, names (surname first). Once you notice the pattern, none of it needs a separate rule.
Dates
| 年 nián | year | ★ read digit by digit: 二零二六年 |
|---|---|---|
| 月 yuè | month | ★ number + 月 |
| 号 hào | day of month | ★ spoken form |
| 日 rì | day of month | written form |
★ The twelve months are just 一月 二月 三月 … 十二月. No names, no irregularities, nothing to learn.
| 今天几号? Jīntiān jǐ hào? | What's the date today? |
|---|---|
| 今天八月二十四号。 | It's 24 August |
| 你的生日是几月几号? | When's your birthday? |
| 五月八号。 | 8 May |
2. ★ Weekdays are numbers too
| 星期一 | Monday | week-one |
|---|---|---|
| 星期二 | Tuesday | |
| 星期三 | Wednesday | |
| 星期四 | Thursday | |
| 星期五 | Friday | |
| 星期六 | Saturday | |
| ⚠️ 星期天 / 星期日 | Sunday | ★ not 星期七 |
★ Monday is literally "week one". The only irregularity in the entire week is Sunday, which takes 天 (day) or 日 (sun) instead of a number.
今天星期几? Jīntiān xīngqī jǐ? — What day is it today?今天星期三。 — It's Wednesday.
(周一, 周二…周日 is a shorter, equally common alternative. Same system.)
| 周末 zhōumò | weekend |
|---|---|
| 这个星期 | this week · 下个星期 next week · 上个星期 last week |
| 这个月 | this month · 下个月 · 上个月 |
3. The clock
| 点 diǎn | o'clock |
|---|---|
| 分 fēn | minutes |
| 半 bàn | half |
| 刻 kè | quarter |
| 差 chà | minus, "to" |
| 一点 | 1:00 |
|---|---|
| ★ 两点 | 2:00 — ⚠️ 两, not 二 |
| 三点半 | 3:30 |
| 三点一刻 | 3:15 |
| 三点三刻 | 3:45 |
| 七点十五分 | 7:15 |
| 差五分三点 | 2:55 — ★ "lacking five minutes, three o'clock" |
⚠️ ★ 两点, never 二点 — the clock counts things, so it takes 两 (Day 8 §3).
Parts of the day — they go FIRST
| 早上 zǎoshang | early morning | 早上七点 |
|---|---|---|
| 上午 shàngwǔ | morning | 上午九点 |
| 中午 zhōngwǔ | midday | |
| 下午 xiàwǔ | afternoon | 下午三点 |
| 晚上 wǎnshang | evening | 晚上八点 |
| 半夜 bànyè | middle of the night |
⚠️ 下午三点, never 三点下午. ★ Big before small, again.
现在几点? Xiànzài jǐ diǎn? — What time is it now?下午三点半。 — Half past three in the afternoon.
4. ★★ Time goes before the verb
### Subject → TIME → (place) → Verb
| ✅ | ❌ | |
|---|---|---|
| 我明天去。 | I'm going tomorrow | |
| 我七点起床。 | I get up at seven | |
| 我们晚上吃饭。 | We eat in the evening | |
| 他星期一来。 | He's coming on Monday |
★ English puts time at the end; Chinese puts it before the verb, and there is no flexibility about it. This is the first piece of the word-order system that Day 22 completes.
And it can also go before the subject
| 我明天去北京。 | neutral |
|---|---|
| 明天我去北京。 | ★ emphasises tomorrow |
★ Both are correct. Fronting the time is a mild emphasis, exactly like English "Tomorrow, I'm going to Beijing." ⚠️ What you cannot do is put it after the verb.
⚠️ No preposition
There is no word for "at", "on" or "in" with time. 我七点起床 — the bare time word does the whole job.
5. When
| 前天 | day before yesterday | 昨天 | yesterday | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 今天 | today | 明天 | tomorrow | |
| 后天 | day after tomorrow | 现在 | now | |
| 以前 | before, in the past | 以后 | after, later | |
| 一会儿 | in a little while | 刚才 | just now | |
| 每天 | every day | 常常 | often |
★ 前 = front/before, 后 = back/after — and 前天/后天 are literally "front day" and "back day". The same two characters run through 以前/以后 and 前面/后面 (Day 15).
⚠️ Duration needs 个
| 三点 | 3 o'clock | ★ a point |
|---|---|---|
| ★ 三个小时 | 3 hours | ★ a duration — needs 个 |
| 两个星期 | 2 weeks | |
| 三个月 | 3 months | |
| ⚠️ 三天 | 3 days | no 个 — 天 is its own measure word |
| ⚠️ 三年 | 3 years | no 个 |
我学了三个月中文。 — I've studied Chinese for three months.三点 vs 三个小时 — one letter of difference, completely different meanings.
6. Dialogue
小明: 现在几点?Alex: 下午三点半。小明: 啊,我四点有课。你今天晚上有空吗?Alex: 有。你想做什么?小明: 我们七点去吃饭,好不好?Alex: 好! 今天星期几?小明: 星期五。明天是周末。Alex: 太好了。你的生日是几月几号?小明: 五月八号。你呢?Alex: 我十月二十三号。小明: 那我们下个月见? 我下个星期很忙。Alex: 没问题。我每天都在家。
★ Every time expression sits before its verb: 我四点有课 · 我们七点去吃饭 · 我下个星期很忙 · 我每天都在家.★ And 下午三点 — the part of day before the number, big to small.
7. Exercises
A. Say the date.
- 24 August 2026 2. 8 May 3. 1 January 4. What's the date today?
B. Weekdays.
- Monday 2. Wednesday 3. Friday 4. ⚠️ Sunday 5. What day is it today?
C. The clock.
- 1:00 2. ⚠️ 2:00 3. 3:30 4. 7:15 5. 3:45 6. 2:55
D. ★ Put the time in the right place.
- I'm going tomorrow.
- I get up at seven.
- We eat in the evening.
- He's coming on Monday.
- I'm going to Beijing tomorrow.
E. ⚠️ 三点 or 三个小时?
- It's three o'clock. 2. I studied for three hours. 3. Let's meet at three.
F. ⚠️ Does it need 个?
- three ___ 小时 2. two ___ 星期 3. three ___ 天 4. three ___ 月 5. three ___ 年
G. ⚠️ Fix the mistake.
- 我去明天。
- 二点半。
- 星期七。
- 我起床七点。
- 三点下午。
Answers
A. 1. 二零二六年八月二十四号 2. 五月八号 3. 一月一号 4. 今天几号? B. 1. 星期一 2. 星期三 3. 星期五 4. 星期天 / 星期日 5. 今天星期几? C. 1. 一点 2. 两点 3. 三点半 4. 七点十五分 5. 三点三刻 6. 差五分三点 D. 1. 我明天去。 2. 我七点起床。 3. 我们晚上吃饭。 4. 他星期一来。 5. 我明天去北京。(or 明天我去北京) E. 1. 三点 2. 三个小时 3. 三点 F. 1. 个 2. 个 3. no 个 4. 个 5. no 个 G. 1. 我明天去 2. 两点半 3. 星期天 4. 我七点起床 5. 下午三点
8. Today's 10 sentences (flashcards)
- 现在几点? Xiànzài jǐ diǎn? — What time is it now?
- 下午三点半。 Xiàwǔ sān diǎn bàn. — 3:30 pm
- 今天星期几? Jīntiān xīngqī jǐ? — What day is it?
- 今天星期五。 — It's Friday
- 今天几号? Jīntiān jǐ hào? — What's the date?
- 我的生日是五月八号。 — My birthday is 8 May
- 我明天去北京。 Wǒ míngtiān qù Běijīng. — I'm going to Beijing tomorrow
- 我七点起床。 Wǒ qī diǎn qǐchuáng. — I get up at seven
- 你今天晚上有空吗? — Are you free this evening?
- 我学了三个月中文。 — I've studied Chinese for three months
9. 📲 Upload to LangNote
Upload section 4 (time before the verb) and section 8 → study language Chinese.
| Mission | What to do with it today |
|---|---|
| 🎧 Podcast | Dates, weekdays and the clock — repetition material for walking |
| ✍️ Dictation | Today's key mission. ★ 两点 vs 二 · 四 vs 十 in times · 三点 vs 三个小时 |
| 🗣 Shadowing | 一点 to 十二点, then the ten sentences |
| 📖 Vocab | ★ Enter time words inside a sentence, so the position is baked in |
| ❓ Quiz | Big-to-small order, 星期天, and where the time goes |
★ Say your own week out loud tonight — what you do on each day, at what time.星期一我工作。晚上七点吃饭。 It drills the order, the numbers and the weekday system at once.
Tomorrow: family and 的 — and the possessive particle that does half of Chinese grammar.
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