Counting, Dates & Time in Mandarin

A Few Building Blocks Go A Long Way

Mandarin numbers are wonderfully regular. Learn 0–10, then reuse them for weekdays, months, dates, years, and clocks.

Count from 1 to 99, turn numbers into dates and ordinals, then read months, seasons, and time.

The Building Blocks: Zero To Ten

Tap every card and say it aloud. The written pinyin shows the dictionary tone; the audio uses the form heard in that number.

零 líng means zero by itself. In a larger number, it also bridges a skipped place: 101 is 一百零一, literally one hundred, zero, one.

一 is yī alone and at the end of a number. In many counting phrases it becomes yí before a fourth tone and yì before other tones.

Use 二 èr for counting aloud, dates, and order, including 二月, 星期二, and 第二. 两 liǎng also means two. For most other uses, use 两—especially before units such as 两点, 两百, and 两千.

• 零 líng — 0
• 一 yī — 1
• 二 èr — 2
• 三 sān — 3
• 四 sì — 4
• 五 wǔ — 5
• 六 liù — 6
• 七 qī — 7
• 八 bā — 8
• 九 jiǔ — 9
• 十 shí — 10

The Main Pattern: Count From 1 To 99

11 is 十一: ten-one. 20 is 二十: two-tens. Put both sides together and 21 is 二十一.

The same tens-and-ones pattern builds every number through 99. For example, 四十二 is 42.

• 十一 shí yī — 11
• 二十 èr shí — 20
• 二十一 èr shí yī — 21
• 九十九 jiǔ shí jiǔ — 99

Want To Count Higher? Optional Higher Numbers

Chinese groups large numbers around 万 wàn, meaning 10,000, not only thousands. This is the one big pattern English speakers need to pause over.

Zero bridges skipped places: examples include 一百零一 for 101, 一千零五 for 1,005, and 一万零一十 for 10,010.

• 百 bǎi — hundred
• 千 qiān — thousand
• 万 wàn — ten thousand
• 一百万 yì bǎi wàn — one million
• 亿 yì — one hundred million

First, Second, And Third: Put 第 Before A Number

Put 第 dì before a number to turn a counting number into an ordinal. The number stays recognizable.

Names are not always ordinals: 一月 means January, while 第一个月 means the first month. 星期一 is the name Monday, not first weekday.

• 第一课 dì-yī kè — lesson one
• 第二天 dì-èr tiān — the second day
• 第三页 dì-sān yè — page three

A Seven-Day Pattern: Days Of The Week

Start with 星期 xīngqī, then add the number. Sunday usually ends with 天 or 日 instead.

You may also hear 周一, 周二 through 周日 as shorter everyday and written forms. The number pattern stays the same.

• 星期一 xīngqīyī — Monday
• 星期二 xīngqī'èr — Tuesday
• 星期三 xīngqīsān — Wednesday
• 星期四 xīngqīsì — Thursday
• 星期五 xīngqīwǔ — Friday
• 星期六 xīngqīliù — Saturday
• 星期天 xīngqītiān — Sunday; 星期日 is also common
• 星期几？ xīngqī jǐ? — What day of the week?
• 今天 jīntiān — today
• 明天 míngtiān — tomorrow
• 昨天 zuótiān — yesterday

The Year At A Glance: Months And Seasons

Months are simply number plus 月 yuè. February is 二月 and December is 十二月, so there are no new month names to memorize.

The illustrated season groupings are a simple Northern Hemisphere learning guide. Lunar festival dates move from year to year.

• 一月 yī yuè — January
• 二月 èr yuè — February
• 三月 sān yuè — March
• 四月 sì yuè — April
• 五月 wǔ yuè — May
• 六月 liù yuè — June
• 七月 qī yuè — July
• 八月 bā yuè — August
• 九月 jiǔ yuè — September
• 十月 shí yuè — October
• 十一月 shí yī yuè — November
• 十二月 shí èr yuè — December
• 春天 chūntiān — spring
• 夏天 xiàtiān — summer
• 秋天 qiūtiān — autumn
• 冬天 dōngtiān — winter
• 春节 — Spring Festival, January or February
• 清明节 — Qingming Festival, early April
• 端午节 — Dragon Boat Festival, May or June
• 中秋节 — Mid-Autumn Festival, September or October

Biggest To Smallest: Years And Full Dates

Chinese dates move from the largest unit to the smallest: year, then month, then day. In conversation, 号 is common for the day; 日 is more formal.

Read years one digit at a time. 二零二六年 èr líng èr liù nián keeps every zero audible, and every 2 is 二, not 两.

• 年 nián — year
• 月 yuè — month
• 日 rì — day or formal date
• 号 hào — date in conversation
• 二零二六年 èr líng èr liù nián
• 几月几号？ jǐ yuè jǐ hào? — What is the date?

Read The Clock: Tell The Time

Put the hour before 点, then add minutes. For 2 o'clock, Mandarin normally uses 两点.

Clock examples include 两点 for 2:00, 三点半 for 3:30, 七点一刻 for 7:15, and 九点四十五分 for 9:45.

• 点 diǎn — o'clock
• 分 fēn — minute
• 半 bàn — half past
• 一刻 yí kè — a quarter hour
• 现在几点？ xiànzài jǐ diǎn? — What time is it now?
• 早上 zǎoshang — early morning
• 上午 shàngwǔ — morning
• 中午 zhōngwǔ — noon
• 下午 xiàwǔ — afternoon
• 晚上 wǎnshang — evening

Lesson Complete: Keep The Patterns Close

Return to any builder whenever a date or time feels uncertain. Listening and repeating matters more than memorizing the whole page at once.

Every lesson and every pronunciation button on this page stays free without an account.