Dates and times in Chinese
This list gathers essential Chinese vocabulary about dates and times for everyday conversation, appointments and schedules. It covers time units, parts of the day, weekdays, months and common scheduling terms.
- 时间 shíjiān — time (the concept of time; a period or point in time; duration)
- 日期 rìqī — date (calendar day); the day of an event or document
- 年 nián — year; (classifier: 個|个 ge4)
- 月份 yuèfèn — month (one of the 12 divisions of the year)
- 月 yuè — the moon; the natural satellite of Earth
- 日 rì — the sun
- 号 háo — to roar; to cry (animal or person)
- 星期 xīngqī — week (seven-day period)
- 周 zhōu — to make a circuit; to circle; to go around; a lap; circumference; cycle
- 星期天 xīngqītiān — Sunday
- 礼拜 lǐbài — week (colloquial)
- 今天 jīntiān — today; the present time; now
- 明天 míngtiān — tomorrow (the day after today)
- 昨天 zuótiān — yesterday
- 前天 qiántiān — the day before yesterday
- 后天 hòutiān — the day after tomorrow
- 今年 jīnnián — this year
- 去年 qùnián — last year
- 明年 míngnián — next year
- 上个月 shànggèyuè — last month
- 下个月 xiàgèyuè — next month
- 上周 shàngzhōu — last week
- 下周 xiàzhōu — next week
- 每天 měitiān — every day; daily
- 每周 měizhōu — every week; weekly
- 每月 měiyuè — every month; monthly
- 每年 měinián — every year; each year; yearly
- 节日 jiérì — holiday; festival
- 生日 shēngrì — birthday
- 日历 rìlì — calendar; (printed or digital) system showing days, weeks, months; CL: 張|张[zhang1], 本[ben3]
- 时区 shíqū — time zone
- 时间表 shíjiānbiǎo — schedule; timetable
- 安排 ānpái — to arrange; to plan; to set up; arrangements; plans
- 约会 yuēhuì — appointment; engagement; (romantic) date
- 预约 yùyuē — a booking; a reservation (e.g., for a seat, ticket, table, appointment)
- 准时 zhǔnshí — on time; punctual; on schedule
- 迟到 chídào — to arrive late; be late (for an event, work, class, etc.)
- 提前 tíqián — to move to an earlier date; to do something ahead of time; in advance
- 推迟 tuīchí — to postpone; to put off; to defer
- 点 diǎn — to touch briefly; to tap; to mark with a dot; to check off (on a list)
- 小时 xiǎoshí — hour (unit of time)
- 分钟 fēnzhōng — minute (unit of time equal to 1/60 of an hour)
- 秒 miǎo — second (unit of time)
- 半 bàn — half (one of two equal parts)
- 差不多 chàbuduō — almost; nearly; more or less; about the same; good enough; not bad
- 凌晨 língchén — very early in the morning; the wee hours (before dawn)
- 早上 zǎoshang — early morning; the morning (period after dawn)
- 上午 shàngwǔ — morning (before noon)
- 中午 zhōngwǔ — noon; midday