Week of Days in Chinese

Week of Days in Chinese

Posted on by tiffany

Grammar Point:
In Mandarin Chinese, week of days can be expressed in three different ways, which is 星期 xīngqī, 礼拜 lǐbài, and 周 zhōu. All three systems follow a simple pattern and are easy to remember! (In comparison to English😎)

星期 xīngqí/xīngqī

星期 xīngqī literally means “star period” and originally referred to the seven-day planetary cycle in ancient times. It was later adopted to represent “week” in modern Chinese. It is commonly used in both China and Taiwan in spoken language.

禮拜/礼拜 lǐbài

The term 礼拜 lǐbài has historical origins dating back to the 19th century when Western missionaries and traders arrived in China. Originally meaning “worship,” it referred to the Christian or Islamic rituals performed regularly by these individuals. It later extended to represent the seven-day cycle as local Chinese noticed that Westerners worshipped every seven days. This was significant because China previously followed a 10-day cycle known as 旬 xún before adopting the Western-style week. It is more commonly used in spoken language in Taiwan compared to China.

週/周 zhōu

The term 周 zhōu is another commonly used way to express “week” in Chinese. It is derived from the Chinese character meaning “cycle” or “circulation” and is used to denote a period of seven days. (Another variation, 周 zhōu, was derived from the Japanese Kanji “週 (しゅう)”, meaning “cycle,” at the beginning of the 20th century.)

Unlike 礼拜 lǐbài, 周 zhōu does not carry the historical religious connotations and is not associated with Western imperialism. As a result, it is the preferred term in many official and formal contexts, including calendars, schedules, and official documents.

  • 星期xīngqī：Spoken, widely use
  • 礼拜lǐbài：Spoken, less formal, very common in Taiwan
  • 周zhōu：Written, formal

Structure

In Mandarin Chinese, days of the week are formed by the word “week” followed by a number: (Sunday is an exception)

💜 星期一xīngqīyī

💜 礼拜一lǐbàiyī

💜 周一zhōuyī

💚 星期二xīngqīèr

💚 礼拜二lǐbàièr

💚 周二zhōuèr

🧡 星期三xīngqīsān

🧡 礼拜三lǐbàisān

🧡 周三zhōusān

💙 星期四xīngqīsì

💙 礼拜四lǐbàisì

💙 周四zhōusì

💛 星期五xīngqīwǔ

💛 礼拜五lǐbàiwǔ

💛 周五zhōuwǔ

🩵 星期六xīngqīliù

🩵 礼拜六lǐbàiliù

🩵 周六zhōuliù

❤️ 星期天xīngqītiān or 星期日xīngqīrì

❤️ 礼拜天lǐbàitiān or 礼拜日lǐbàirì

❤️ 周天zhōutiān or 周日zhōurì

Sunday is the exception when it comes to the naming of days in Chinese. Instead of using “week seven,” it is referred to as “week day”. Both 日 rì and 天 tiān mean “day” in Chinese. 天 tiān sounds more casual in comparison to 日 rì.

星期天xīngqītiān你nǐ要yào去qù爬山páshān吗ma？
Are you going hiking on Sunday?

这zhè家jiā咖啡店kāfēidiàn周一zhōuyī休息xiūxi
This coffee shop is closed on Mondays.

礼拜六lǐbàiliù你nǐ做zuò什么shénme？
What are you doing on Saturday?

我wǒ上shàng星期一xīngqīyī没méi上shàng中文zhōngwén课kè
I didn’t attend Chinese class last Monday.

他tā下xià礼拜日lǐbàirì没méi时间shíjiān
He doesn’t have time next Sunday.

每měi周三zhōusān咖啡kāfēi买mǎi一yī送sòng一yī
Buy one coffee, get one free every Wednesday.

Days in Chinese

Do you like it? 🙂