How to say the months in Chinese (it's ridiculously easy)

You know what's great about learning the months in Chinese? They actually make sense.

I'm serious. If you're coming from English where we've got month names based on Roman emperors and random gods, Mandarin is going to feel like a breath of fresh air. January? It's literally "month one." February? "Month two." That's it. That's the whole system for expressing the months.

Here's the thing though—while the basic Gregorian calendar months are stupidly simple, there's also this whole Chinese lunar calendar situation happening in the background. Most Chinese speakers use both calendar systems, which is why Chinese New Year jumps around every year and why you'll hear people talking about the "fifth month" when they're planning the Dragon Boat Festival.

Let's break down both calendars so you actually understand what's going on.

The 12 months in Chinese: Your new best friends

Learning the months of the year in Chinese is basically free vocabulary once you know how to count to 12 in Chinese. The formula for the Chinese words for the months is dead simple:

Number + 月 (yuè)

That's it. 月 (yuè) means "month" (and fun fact—it originally meant "moon"), and you just stick a number in front of it. The months are numbered from 1 to 12.

See? Once you can count, you can talk about months. No memorizing arbitrary month names, no wondering why September is the ninth month when "sept" means seven (looking at you, Julius and Augustus Caesar).

This Chinese calendar month system is way more logical than what we're used to. The character 月 appears in every single calendar month, making it easy to recognize when someone's talking about time.

Pronunciation and tones you need to know

Before you get too excited about learning the months, there's one catch: pronunciation matters in Mandarin. Because this is Chinese, and tones always matter.

The character 月 (yuè) is always fourth tone—that sharp, falling tone. Think of it like you're firmly stating a fact. Meanwhile, the Chinese numbers have their own tones that you need to get right, which is why checking out our guide to Chinese tones is a good move if you're new to this.

Here's a mistake that'll trip you up when you're speaking Chinese: 一月 (yī yuè) means "January," but 一个月 (yí gè yuè) means "one month" (as in, a duration of time). Notice how the tone on 一 (yī) changes? First tone for January, second tone for duration. Get it wrong and you'll confuse the hell out of people.

Also, you can't just say the number alone when you talk about months. You need the 月. If you say "我五月去中国" (wǒ wǔ yuè qù Zhōngguó), that's "I'm going to China in May." But if you just say "我五去中国," people are going to stare at you wondering what "five" means. Five what? Five days? Five years?

In pinyin, make sure you're paying attention to those tone marks. The difference between yī (first tone) and yí (second tone) might seem small, but in Mandarin Chinese it changes the entire meaning.

Writing dates in Chinese: Years, months, and days

When you're writing dates and putting together months and dates in Chinese, the order goes: year → month → day. Biggest unit to smallest. Makes way more sense than the American month-day-year chaos, honestly.

December 25, 2021 becomes: 二零二一年十二月二十五号 (èr líng èr yī nián shí èr yuè èr shí wǔ hào)

Break that down: "two zero two one year, twelve month, twenty-five date"

For the day of the month, you use 号 (hào), which means "date" or "day of the month." So the 15th is 十五号 (shí wǔ hào). The word 年 (nián) means "year" and always comes before the month. Simple enough once you see the pattern.

If you want to say years in Chinese, you pronounce each digit individually. So the year 2000 becomes 二零零零年 (èr líng líng líng nián)—literally "two zero zero zero year." Don't try to say "two thousand" the way you would in English.

And here's a formatting thing that'll save you from looking like you're thinking in English: Don't add 的 between the month and day. Chinese dates flow directly from month to day without any connector. Adding 的 is like putting a speed bump in your sentence for no reason.

If you want to practice this alongside other key vocabulary for time, check out days of the week in Chinese too—they also follow a logical pattern. You'll learn 星期 (xīngqī), 礼拜 (lǐbài), and 周 (zhōu)—all ways to talk about days and weeks in Chinese.

The Chinese lunar calendar: Why Chinese New Year is never on January 1st

Okay, so the Gregorian calendar months are straightforward. But there's this whole other calendar system that many Chinese people still use for traditional festivals, and it's based on the phases of the moon.

The Chinese lunar calendar—or more accurately, the lunisolar calendar—is called 农历 (nóng lì), which translates to "agricultural calendar." Makes sense, since farmers used to rely on it for planting and harvesting. This calendar system has been around for thousands of years and is still deeply embedded in Chinese culture.

Here's how the lunar calendar works: Each lunar month starts with a new moon and lasts either 29 or 30 days (the moon's cycle is about 29.5 days). Twelve lunar months only add up to about 354 days, which is 11 days short of a solar year. So every few years, they throw in an extra intercalary month—basically a leap month—to keep things synced up with the seasons.

This is why the date of the Chinese New Year bounces around between late January and mid-February every year in the Gregorian calendar. It always falls on the first day of the first lunar month (正月 zhēng yuè), but that date shifts on the Gregorian calendar because of the way lunar months work.

Traditional Chinese festivals all follow this lunar system:

So when native Chinese speakers talk about traditional holidays, they're thinking in lunar terms. When they're scheduling a business meeting or booking a flight, they're using Gregorian months. Two calendar systems, used for different purposes in modern Chinese society.

The Chinese zodiac also follows the lunar calendar, with each year associated with one of twelve animals. Understanding the lunar calendar helps you grasp these cultural connections.

Key vocabulary for talking about months and dates

Let's round out your vocab with some essential Chinese words and phrases you'll use when you talk about months and dates:

Time expressions:

Useful measure words:

Date-related characters:

When you talk about days in casual conversation, you'll use 号 (hào). In more formal writing or dates in Chinese documents, you'll see 日 (rì). Same meaning, different contexts.

Learning the months in Mandarin opens up a ton of practical Chinese language conversations—from scheduling meetups to understanding cultural celebrations.

Why this matters when you're trying to learn Chinese

Most textbooks will teach you the Gregorian calendar because, yeah, it's practical for everyday life. But if you're actually trying to get fluent, you need to understand the Chinese calendar in both its forms. Otherwise, you're going to be completely lost when someone mentions the "mid-autumn festival on the 15th of the 8th month" and you're sitting there wondering what happened to September.

The cool thing is, once you understand both systems, you can actually follow conversations about Chinese culture without having to ask "wait, when is that?" every five minutes. You'll know why mooncakes show up in stores in September. You'll understand why your Chinese friend is traveling home for Spring Festival in January one specific year and February the next.

The dates of the Chinese lunar festivals shift every year in the Gregorian calendar, but they're always on the same date in the lunar calendar. Once you internalize this, you'll have a much deeper understanding of how Chinese speakers think about time.

And honestly, this is where immersion language learning becomes incredibly useful. When you're watching Chinese shows or reading Chinese content, you'll encounter both calendar systems naturally. Characters will talk about planning their 国庆节 (National Day) trip in "十月" (October) and then discuss celebrating 中秋节 (Mid-Autumn Festival) using lunar dates. You pick up the context and Chinese characters by seeing how people actually use these terms in real life.

If you want to actually absorb all this calendar stuff—Gregorian months, lunar months, how people use them in conversation—the best way is through real Chinese content. That's what Migaku's built for. Our browser extension lets you watch Chinese shows and immediately look up any word or phrase you don't know, then automatically add it to your spaced repetition deck. So when someone in a C-drama mentions "八月十五" (the 15th of the 8th lunar month—the Mid-Autumn Festival date), you can click it, see what it means in context, and save it for review later.

The mobile app syncs everything, so you can review your months, dates, and festival vocabulary whenever you've got five minutes. And because you're learning from actual context—not flashcards that just say "一月 = January"—you'll remember how Chinese speakers really talk about time.

There's a 10-day free trial if you want to try it out. Beats memorizing lists of Chinese words for the months, and you'll actually be able to follow conversations about holidays and dates without constantly translating in your head.