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Mandarin Chinese · HSK 3.0 Band 1 · Chapter 17

今天几号 What's today's date

Jīntiān jǐ hào

Dates: 几月几号 / 今年 / 明年 / 去年 / 生日 / 新年. Persona 白月.

Dialogue

今天几号 — What's today's date

文山白bái月yuè, 今jīn天tiān几jǐ号hào? Bai Yue, what's today's date?
白月今jīn天tiān五wǔ月yuè一yī号hào. May 1st.
文山真zhēn的de! 是shì我wǒ生shēng日rì! Ha — that's my birthday!
白月真zhēn的de吗ma? 生shēng日rì好hǎo! Really? Happy birthday!
文山谢xiè谢xiè! 你nǐ的de生shēng日rì是shì几jǐ月yuè几jǐ号hào? Thanks! When's yours?
白月我wǒ的de生shēng日rì是shì九jiǔ月yuè二èr十shí号hào. 今jīn年nián是shì我wǒ二èr十shí一yī岁suì. Mine is September 20. This year I'm 21.

Dialogue

明天来吗 — Coming tomorrow?

白月文wén山shān, 明míng天tiān你nǐ来lái吗ma? Wen Shan, you coming tomorrow?
文山明míng天tiān五wǔ月yuè二èr号hào. 我wǒ来lái. May 2. I'll come.
白月昨zuó天tiān我wǒ没méi来lái. 我wǒ去qù看kàn朋péng友yǒu了le. Yesterday I didn't come. I went to see a friend.
文山没méi什shén么me. 明míng年nián新xīn年nián我wǒ们men一yì起qǐ! No problem. Let's celebrate New Year together next year!
白月好hǎo! 明míng年nián见jiàn! Good! See you next year!

Vocabulary

今jīn天tiān: noun today
明míng天tiān: noun tomorrow
昨zuó天tiān: noun yesterday
号hào: measure word date / number
月yuè: noun month (revisit Bk1)
年nián: noun year
今jīn年nián: noun this year
明míng年nián: noun next year
去qù年nián: noun last year
新xīn年nián: noun new year
生shēng日rì: noun birthday
白bái月yuè: pn. Bai Yue (persona — design student)

New characters

今: today; now
今天 jīntiān — today今年 jīnnián — this year
号hào: date / number
日rì: sun / day
生日 shēngrì — birthday星期日 xīngqī rì — Sunday (formal)节日 jiérì — festival; holiday (recall Bk2)
年nián: year
今年 jīnnián — this year明年 míngnián — next year去年 qùnián — last year
昨: yesterday
昨天 zuótiān — yesterday

Hanzi — writing & recognition

今

jīn today; now Writing

4 strokes top-bottom

明

míng tomorrow; bright Writing

8 strokes left-right radical 日

昨

zuó yesterday Writing

9 strokes left-right radical 日

年

nián year Writing

6 strokes standalone

号

hào date / number Recognition

5 strokes top-bottom

生

shēng be born; life (revisit ch9) Recognition

5 strokes standalone

日

rì sun; day Recognition

4 strokes standalone

月

yuè month / moon (revisit Bk1) Recognition

4 strokes standalone

Grammar

Dates — month and date

Explanation

Chinese date format goes BIG to SMALL: 年 → 月 → 号 → time. Example: 2026 年 5 月 1 号. Ask 今天几号? for date; 今天几月几号? for month+date. Answer: X 月 X 号 (X year, X month, X date).

Examples

今天几月几号? What month / date is today?
今jīn天tiān五wǔ月yuè一yī号hào. Today's May 1st.
我的生日是十月十号. My birthday is October 10.
今年是 2026 年. This year is 2026.

Pronunciation

声母 d, t, n, l 和复韵母 Initials d, t, n, l and the Compound Finals

声母 d, t, n, l — Initials d, t, n, l

This chapter teaches d, t, n, l — all four are made with the tongue tip behind the upper teeth (alveolar/dental).

d — like "t" in "stop" (English unaspirated) dā · dé · dì · duō
t — like "t" in "top" (English aspirated) tā · tī · tǔ · tù
n — like "n" in English "no" nǐ · nín · nǎ · nǚ
l — like "l" in English "love" lái · lǐ · lù · lǎo

复韵母 — Compound Finals

Compound finals combine two or three vowel sounds smoothly. This chapter introduces the most common ones.

ai — like "i" in "eye" bāi · tái · mǎi · wài
ei — like "ay" in "say" bèi · měi · fēi · lèi
ao — like "ow" in "now" bāo · māo · dào · lǎo
ou — like "oh" in "go" (rounded) dōu · tóu · lóu · mǒu
an — like "an" in "answer" (no g sound) bàn · fàn · tán · mán
en — like "en" in "happen" běn · mén · fēn · rén
ang — "a" + nasal "ng" — like "ahng" fáng · tāng · mǎng · pàng
eng — "e" + nasal "ng" — like "uhng" děng · féng · téng · mèng
ong — "o" + nasal "ng" — like "ohng" dōng · tóng · lóng · pōng

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