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Lesson Transcript

Hi! 大家好,我是李殷如。
(Dà jiā hǎo, wǒ shì Lǐ Yīnrú.)
“Hi, everyone! I'm Yinru Li.”
In this lesson, we’ll be taking a closer look at days of the week in Chinese.
Now, on the whiteboard, I’ve listed 7 days of the week in Chinese.
So, let’s start from Monday.
“Monday” in Chinese is 星期一 (xīngqí yī).
星期一 (xīngqí yī)
And then “Tuesday,” 星期二 (xīngqí'èr).
星期二 (xīngqí'èr)
“Wednesday,” 星期三 (xīngqísān).
星期三 (xīngqísān)
And then 星期四 (xīngqísì).
星期四 (xīngqísì)
星期五 (xīngqíwǔ) is “Friday.”
星期五 (xīngqíwǔ)
“Saturday,” 星期六 (xīngqíliù).
星期六 (xīngqíliù)
And then “Sunday,” you can either say 星期天 (xīngqítiān), 星期天 (xīngqítiān); or 或者 (huòzhě), 星期日 (xīngqírì), 星期日 (xīngqírì).
Now, some of you may have noticed that our words start with the same 星期 (xīngqí) at the beginning, right?
星期 (xīngqí)
Well, 星期 (xīngqí) is a word that means “week.” Literally, 星期 (xīngqí) means “star period,” 星期 (xīngqí). So, our ancestors used to name the days of the week after stars or planets. For example, Saturday is the day of Saturn, Sunday is the day of the sun, and Monday is the day of the moon, so on and so forth.
But then, until the Qing Dynasty, the Chinese officials started, hmm, let’s just make it simple and easy for everybody to say and remember. Well, let’s just say Monday is 星期一 (xīngqí yī), literally “week 1,” you know. So, 星期一 (xīngqí yī) actually means day 1 of the week, 星期一 (xīngqí yī). And then Tuesday is the day 2 of the week, so it’s 星期二 (xīngqí'èr), 星期二 (xīngqí'èr). And then, you know, 三 (sān) is “3,” so 星期三 (xīngqísān) is day 3 of the week. 四 (sì) “4,” 星期四 (xīngqísì), day 4 of the week, Thursday. And then 星期五
(xīngqíwǔ), day 5 of the week. 星期六 (xīngqíliù), day 6 of the week. Well, until Sunday, you know, it’s not- actually, it’s not 星期七 (xīngqíqī), not 7th day or week 7, it’s 星期天 (xīngqítiān). 天 (Tiān) could mean “sky” or “day,” 星期天 (xīngqítiān). Or another way to say it is 星期日 (xīngqírì). 日 (rì) means “sun,” 日 (rì). 星期日 (xīngqírì), “Sunday,” right? 星期日 (xīngqírì).
But 星期日 (xīngqírì)is a little less, less common than 星期天 (xīngqítiān), 星期天 (xīngqítiān).
So, again, the 7 days of the week of in Chinese is:
星期一 (xīngqí yī)
星期二 (xīngqí'èr)
星期三 (xīngqísān)
星期四 (xīngqísì)
星期五 (xīngqíwǔ)
星期六 (xīngqíliù)
星期天 (xīngqítiān) or 星期日 (xīngqírì)
Okay.
There are two other ways to say the 7 days of the week, but don’t worry, they follow the same format, same pattern. We just use different words for “week.”
So, this way, we can say, 礼拜 (lǐbài). We use 礼拜 (lǐbài) to say “week,” 礼拜 (lǐbài). Originally, 礼拜 (lǐbài) refers to the religious service. So, we Chinese people realized that, you know, those Westerners, those Westerners, they seem to do their religious service or worshiping at the same day of the week. So every day- every time they do that, that means a week has passed, so let’s just call- let’s call their religious service a week, why not? So, 礼拜 (lǐbài) has evolved and become another way to say “week,” 礼拜 (lǐbài).
So, same way:
礼拜一 (lǐbài yī)
礼拜二 (lǐbài èr)
礼拜三 (lǐbài sān)
礼拜四 (lǐbài sì)
礼拜五 (lǐbài wǔ)
礼拜六 (lǐbài liù)
礼拜天 (lǐbài tiān)
You know, 天 (tiān), we just learned that 天 (tiān) means “day.” So, the worship day is Sunday, 礼拜天 (lǐbài tiān). All right.
But the third way is to use 周 (zhōu) to say “week.” 周 (zhōu) means “circle” or “cycle.” So, we cycle through the 7 days of the week.
So, the first day of the cycle is 周一 (zhōuyī), 周一 (zhōuyī).
And then:
周二 (zhōu'èr)
周三 (zhōusān)
周四 (zhōu sì)
周五 (zhōu wǔ)
周六 (zhōu liù)
周日 (zhōu rì) is “Sunday.”
So, here is how you can say the days of the week in Chinese in three ways.
Let’s take a look at how we can use these vocabulary words in everyday conversations. Next, you’re going to hear a dialogue between two friends and they’re talking about days of the week, and let’s take a listen.
今天星期几?(Jīntiān xīngqí jǐ?)
今天星期三。(Jīntiān xīngqísān.)
One more time, a bit slower.
今天星期几?(Jīntiān xīngqí jǐ?)
今天星期三。(Jīntiān xīngqísān.)
So, 星期三 (xīngqísān) is “Wednesday.”
So, the question is:
今天星期几?(Jīntiān xīngqí jǐ?) literally means “Today, week, what number?”
You can see, it’s usually asking numbers, you know, especially a lower number. So, 今天星期几?(Jīntiān xīngqí jǐ?) is a standard way to ask what day of the week it is today.
今天星期几?(Jīntiān xīngqí jǐ?)
And the answer is:
今天星期三。(Jīntiān xīngqísān.)
We know 星期三 (xīngqísān) is “Wednesday” and 今天 (jīntiān) is “today,” so literally, it’s 今天星期三 (jīntiān xīngqísān) “Today, Wednesday,” okay? Notice, there’s no 是 (shì), there’s no “is” in this sentence. You could say 今天是星期三 (jīntiān shì xīngqísān), which is also grammatically correct, but 今天星期三 (jīntiān xīngqísān) is more common and it’s perfectly fine.
So, 今天星期三 (jīntiān xīngqísān), “Today is Wednesday.”
Now, let’s say today is “Friday,” how do you say that in Chinese?
今天星期五。(Jīntiān xīngqíwǔ.) “Day 5 of the week.”
今天星期五。(Jīntiān xīngqíwǔ.)
And what about Saturday?
Today is Saturday.
今天星期六。(Jīntiān xīngqíliù.)
今天星期六。(Jīntiān xīngqíliù.)
What comes after Saturday?
Today is Sunday, Sunday.
今天 星期天。 (Jīntiān xīngqítiān.)
Sunday
今天 星期天。 (Jīntiān xīngqítiān.)
So, to answer the question, if someone ask you, 今天星期几 (jīntiān xīngqí jǐ), you can use this pattern:
今天星期 (Jīntiān xīngqí) and then depending on the day of the week, you know, you can say from 星期一 (xīngqí yī), 星期二 (xīngqí'èr), 星期三 (xīngqísān), 星期四 (xīngqísì), 星期五 (xīngqíwǔ), 星期六 (xīngqíliù), 星期天 (xīngqítiān).
You can also use their alternatives to say “week.” So, you can also say 今天礼拜 (jīntiān lǐbài), then days of the week, or 今天周 (jīntiān zhōu) of the week, days of the week.
So, this is how we can tell and ask days of the week in Chinese.

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