Chinese days of the week are wonderfully logical. Start with 星期 (xīngqī, week), then add a number: 星期一 (xīngqīyī) is Monday—literally “week one”—星期二 is Tuesday, and the pattern carries on through Saturday. Sunday is the one friendly exception.
That means the week is not really seven unrelated words to memorize. It is one reusable word, the numbers one to six, and a special ending for Sunday. If you already know the numbers, you can learn the full set before your tea gets cold.
Chinese days of the week: quick reference
Read the table down once, then cover the English column and try to rebuild each day from its number.
| English | Chinese | Pinyin | Literal pattern |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 星期一 | xīngqīyī | week + one |
| Tuesday | 星期二 | xīngqī’èr | week + two |
| Wednesday | 星期三 | xīngqīsān | week + three |
| Thursday | 星期四 | xīngqīsì | week + four |
| Friday | 星期五 | xīngqīwǔ | week + five |
| Saturday | 星期六 | xīngqīliù | week + six |
| Sunday | 星期天 / 星期日 | xīngqītiān / xīngqīrì | week + sky / sun |
The apostrophe in xīngqī’èr only separates two vowel sounds in pinyin. It is not a pause: say the whole word smoothly.
If the numbered pattern is new, the Chinese numbers guide gives you the tiny set of building blocks behind it.
The pattern that makes six days almost free
星期 is built from 星 (xīng, star) and 期 (qī, period), but as a unit it simply means “week” in this lesson. Add 一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六—one through six—and you have Monday through Saturday.
Why does Monday get number one? In modern Chinese, it is treated as the first day of the working week. This also makes the names easy to decode on timetables: if you spot 星期 plus 四, you are looking at Thursday even before you sound it out.
Sunday refuses to be “week seven.” The everyday form 星期天 uses 天 (tiān, sky/day). 星期日 uses 日 (rì, sun/day) and appears often in writing, notices, and formal schedules. Both mean Sunday.
Build a six-picture story: one coffee on Monday, two shoes on Tuesday, three books on Wednesday, four chairs on Thursday, five friends on Friday, and six dumplings on Saturday. Say the matching Chinese number with each picture. Sunday gets a bright sun in the sky—your cue for 天 or 日.
Three useful ways to say “week”
Mandarin gives you three common frames for weekday names. The number stays the same; only the word for week changes.
| Style | Monday | Sunday | Where you will meet it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 星期 (xīngqī) | 星期一 | 星期天 / 星期日 | neutral and safe everywhere |
| 周 (zhōu) | 周一 | 周日 | compact; common in work, school, and writing |
| 礼拜 (lǐbài) | 礼拜一 | 礼拜天 | conversational; frequency varies by region |
Start by speaking with 星期. Learn to recognize 周, because a message such as 周五见 (zhōuwǔ jiàn, see you Friday) is extremely common. Treat 礼拜 as a useful listening bonus rather than another list you must drill.
Ask the day and make a plan
The key question is 今天星期几？ (Jīntiān xīngqī jǐ?)—“What day is it today?” 几 (jǐ) asks “which number/how many,” so the question literally asks for the week-number.
Chinese normally places the day before the action. English says “see you on Friday,” but Mandarin needs no equivalent of on: say 我们星期五见—literally “we Friday meet.”
今天星期几？
Jīntiān xīngqī jǐ?
What day is it today?
今天星期三。
Jīntiān xīngqīsān.
Today is Wednesday.
我们星期五见。
Wǒmen xīngqīwǔ jiàn.
See you on Friday.
你星期六有空吗？
Nǐ xīngqīliù yǒu kòng ma?
Are you free on Saturday?
To say “every Monday,” put 每 (měi, every) before the day: 每个星期一 (měi ge xīngqīyī). In quick conversation, 每周一 (měi zhōuyī) is a neat shorter version.
Today, tomorrow, and the weeks around you
Day names become useful when you connect them to a real calendar. These are the words that do that work.
| Meaning | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| today | 今天 | jīntiān |
| tomorrow | 明天 | míngtiān |
| yesterday | 昨天 | zuótiān |
| this week | 这周 / 这个星期 | zhè zhōu / zhège xīngqī |
| next week | 下周 / 下个星期 | xià zhōu / xià ge xīngqī |
| last week | 上周 / 上个星期 | shàng zhōu / shàng ge xīngqī |
| weekday | 工作日 | gōngzuòrì |
| weekend | 周末 | zhōumò |
The directions are delightfully visual: 上 means up/previous, while 下 means down/next. Imagine weeks stacked vertically on a calendar—last week above you, next week below.
What Chinese calendars actually show
Phone calendars and compact schedules often shorten days to 周一, 周二, 周三…周日. A very narrow calendar may show only 一 二 三 四 五 六 日 across the top. Once the number pattern is automatic, these tiny headers are easier to scan than English abbreviations.
The week-number system is practical, but it does not make dates culturally empty. Workplaces may talk about 调休 (tiáoxiū), adjusted rest days, when a weekend is swapped with a working day around a public-holiday break. Always check the actual calendar during a major holiday instead of assuming Saturday and Sunday are free.
A 60-second memory challenge
Try these without looking back at the table:
- What day is 星期四? (Thursday.)
- How would you build “Saturday”? (星期 + 六 = 星期六.)
- Which two characters can end the word for Sunday? (天 or 日.)
- How do you say “weekend”? (周末.)
- Translate 下周一见. (“See you next Monday.”)
If you missed one, do not restart the whole list. Repeat only that item, then test it again after a minute. Tiny retrieval rounds beat rereading the table five times.
Common questions
Is Chinese Sunday 星期七?
No. Use 星期天 in everyday conversation or 星期日 in more written contexts. You may be understood if you invent 星期七, but it is not the standard name.
Do I need spaces between 星期 and the number?
No. Chinese normally writes 星期一 as one continuous unit. Pinyin may be spaced differently across textbooks, but the spoken phrase is smooth.
Which version of “week” should a beginner use?
Use 星期 when speaking and recognize 周 when reading. That pair covers most beginner situations without making you memorize three parallel lists.
Keep learning Chinese
You now have more than seven labels: you can ask the day, read a calendar, move backward and forward by a week, and arrange a Friday meet-up. Next, strengthen the number pattern with our free Chinese numbers and counting lessons, then say one real plan in Chinese every morning: today’s day, tomorrow’s day, and one thing you will do this weekend.
