Watch/Listen – Take the quizzes
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Days of the week
- Xīngqīyī ~ Lǐbàiyī ~ Zhōuyī – Monday
- Xīngqīèr ~ Lǐbàièr ~ Zhōuèr – Tuesday
- Xīngqīsān ~ Lǐbàisān ~ Zhōusān – Wednesday
- Xīngqīsì ~ Lǐbàisì ~ Zhōusì – Thursday
- Xīngqīwǔ ~ Lǐbàiwǔ ~ Zhōuwǔ – Friday
- Xīngqīliù ~ Lǐbàiliù ~ Zhōuliù – Saturday
- Xīngqītiān /rì ~ Lǐbàitiān /rì ~ Zhōutiān /rì – Sunday
- Yīyuè – January
- Èryuè – February
- Sānyuè – March
- Sìyuè – April
- Wǔyuè – May
- Liùyuè – June
- Qīyuè – July
- Bāyuè – August
- Jiǔyuè – September
- Shíyuè – October
- Shíyīyuè – November
- Shí’èryuè – December
- Yī diǎn (zhōng) – One o’clock
- Liǎng diǎn (zhōng) – 2 o’clock
- Sān diǎn (zhōng) – 3 o’clock
- Sì diǎn (zhōng) – 4 o’clock
- Wǔ diǎn (zhōng) – 5 o’clock
- Liù diǎn (zhōng) – 6 o’clock
- Qī diǎn (zhōng) – 7 o’clock
- Bā diǎn (zhōng) – 8 o’clock
- Jiǔ diǎn (zhōng) – 9 o’clock
- Shí diǎn (zhōng) – 10 o’clock
- Shíyī diǎn (zhōng) – 11 o’clock
- Shí’èr diǎn (zhōng) – 12 o’clock
- Note that “11” and “12” are formed like this: Shí + yi1 = shi2yi1, shi2 + er4 = shi2er4.
- The letter “i” as in “yi and qi” is different than the vowel after z, c, s, zh, ch, sh, and r.
- “Note that “liu and jiu” rhyme with each other and are pronounced like the the syllable “you.” Example: “wo you liu ping jiu” [I have six bottles of alchohol].
“Days of the Week”]
- Days of the week, names of the months, and clock time on the hour all use the numbers plus “xingqi, yue, and dian (zhong). Remember that the “yue” used to form the names of months is lip rounded; you must round your lips like a fish in a fishbowl or it won’t sound correct.
- There are a lot of synonyms in Chinese. For the days of the week “xingqi” is the most often taught phrase, although people in China tend to use it or “zhou.” Speakers from Taiwan tend to use “libai.” It seems confusing for beginners, but many ways to say the same thing is a fact of Chinese.