Time words and the calendar
Mandarin time words are short and modular. 今天 (today), 明天 (tomorrow), 昨天 (yesterday) — three two-character blocks you'll hear constantly. Days of the week are number-based: just 星期 + a number. Months are number-based: just a number + 月. Dates are date-number + 号. The whole calendar runs on the numbers you already know from lesson 5. Once you know 一 through 十二, you have every month name in Mandarin. Time words usually go BEFORE the verb, often right after the subject.
Today, tomorrow, yesterday
今天 jīntiān = today. 明天 míngtiān = tomorrow. 昨天 zuótiān = yesterday. The shared 天 tiān literally means 'day/sky'. There's also 后天 hòutiān (the day after tomorrow) and 前天 qiántiān (the day before yesterday). And 现在 xiànzài = now. These all sit before the verb: 我今天很忙。 = I'm very busy today. 明天我去学校。 = Tomorrow I go to school. (You can put the time word at the very start or right after the subject — both are natural.)
Days of the week — just count
Take 星期 (week) and tack on a number. 星期一 = Monday (week-one), 星期二 = Tuesday, 星期三 Wednesday, 星期四 Thursday, 星期五 Friday, 星期六 Saturday. Sunday breaks the pattern: 星期日 xīngqīrì (formal) or 星期天 xīngqītiān (everyday). Asking 'what day?' uses the small-number question word 几 from lesson 5: 今天星期几? = What day is it today? Answer: 今天星期三。 = Today is Wednesday. (No 是 needed — same rule as ages.)
Months — also just count
Number + 月 = the month. 一月 = January, 二月 = February, 三月 March, 四月 April, 五月 May, 六月 June, 七月 July, 八月 August, 九月 September, 十月 October, 十一月 November, 十二月 December. So January is literally 'one month', and the whole list is free once you know your numbers. (For 'two months' as a duration you'd use 两个月 with the measure word from lesson 6 — but 'February' is 二月, not 两月.)
Dates — number + 号
The day of the month is a number + 号 hào in everyday speech (or 日 rì in writing/formal). 五月二号 = May 2nd. 十二月二十五号 = December 25th. Order is big-to-small: year, month, day. 二〇二六年五月二号 = May 2, 2026. (年 nián = year; we'll dig into years later.) The question is 几月几号? = What month and what day? — using 几 twice. Reply: 今天五月二号。 No 是.
Where the time word sits
Mandarin puts time before the verb, NOT after like English. 我明天去中国。 = I go to China tomorrow. (Literally: I tomorrow go China.) Two safe positions: at the start of the sentence (明天我去中国。) or right after the subject (我明天去中国。). NEVER 我去中国明天。 — that's an English calque and sounds wrong.
