Days, Months, and Dates in Cantonese

In Brief

Cantonese builds most calendar words from numbers. Put a number after 禮拜 (lai5 baai3) or 星期 (sing1 kei4) for Monday through Saturday, after 月 (jyut6) for a month, and before 號 (hou6) for a date: 禮拜六 “Saturday,” 三月 “March,” and 十五號 “the 15th.” Sunday is the main item to learn separately: 禮拜日 or 星期日.

Overview

Dates in Cantonese are pleasantly systematic once you know the basic numbers. Unlike English, you do not need separate month names such as “March” or ordinal forms such as “fifteenth.” You combine ordinary numbers with a few calendar words instead. This makes days and dates an ideal A1 topic after Numbers and Counting.

You will hear these patterns whenever someone arranges a meeting, checks a business opening day, gives a birthday, or reads a booking confirmation. Spoken Hong Kong Cantonese often uses 禮拜 for “week” and for weekdays, while 星期 is also common and works in both speech and more neutral contexts.

This article gives Jyutping, a romanization system that shows Cantonese pronunciation and tones with numbers. For example, saam1 has tone 1 and jyut6 has tone 6. The tone number belongs to the syllable; it is not part of the calendar number being said.

How It Works

Weekdays: marker + number

For Monday through Saturday, use 禮拜 (lai5 baai3) or 星期 (sing1 kei4) followed by the numbers one through six. There is no “weekday zero,” and Sunday normally uses 日 rather than a number.

Day	With 禮拜	With 星期	Jyutping
Monday	禮拜一	星期一	lai5 baai3 jat1 / sing1 kei4 jat1
Tuesday	禮拜二	星期二	lai5 baai3 ji6 / sing1 kei4 ji6
Wednesday	禮拜三	星期三	lai5 baai3 saam1 / sing1 kei4 saam1
Thursday	禮拜四	星期四	lai5 baai3 sei3 / sing1 kei4 sei3
Friday	禮拜五	星期五	lai5 baai3 ng5 / sing1 kei4 ng5
Saturday	禮拜六	星期六	lai5 baai3 luk6 / sing1 kei4 luk6
Sunday	禮拜日	星期日	lai5 baai3 jat6 / sing1 kei4 jat6

Notice that 一 in Monday is jat1, but 日 in Sunday is jat6. They are different characters with different tones.

To ask which day of the week it is, replace the weekday number with 幾 (gei2, “which/how many”):

• 今日禮拜幾？ gam1 jat6 lai5 baai3 gei2? — What day is today?
• 聽日星期幾？ ting1 jat6 sing1 kei4 gei2? — What day is tomorrow?

The answer can be just 禮拜三 or 星期三. Cantonese does not require an equivalent of English “It is” in a short identification answer.

Months: number + 月

Months use the number from one to twelve followed by 月 (jyut6, “month”):

Month	Cantonese	Jyutping
January	一月	jat1 jyut6
February	二月	ji6 jyut6
March	三月	saam1 jyut6
April	四月	sei3 jyut6
May	五月	ng5 jyut6
June	六月	luk6 jyut6
July	七月	cat1 jyut6
August	八月	baat3 jyut6
September	九月	gau2 jyut6
October	十月	sap6 jyut6
November	十一月	sap6 jat1 jyut6
December	十二月	sap6 ji6 jyut6

Use 二月, not 兩月, for February. 兩 (loeng5) often means “two” before a classifier (a counting word), but calendar months use the fixed numerical name 二月.

Ask “which month?” with 幾月？ gei2 jyut6? A fuller question is 而家係幾月？ ji4 gaa1 hai6 gei2 jyut6? — “What month is it now?”

Dates: number + 號

In ordinary speech, a day of the month is its number followed by 號 (hou6):

• 一號 jat1 hou6 — the 1st
• 十號 sap6 hou6 — the 10th
• 十五號 sap6 ng5 hou6 — the 15th
• 二十一號 ji6 sap6 jat1 hou6 — the 21st
• 三十一號 saam1 sap6 jat1 hou6 — the 31st

English changes “one” to “first” and “fifteen” to “fifteenth.” Cantonese does not: the cardinal number (the ordinary counting number) stays unchanged, and 號 marks it as a calendar date.

Combine a month and date in the order month + date:

三月十五號

saam1 jyut6 sap6 ng5 hou6

March 15th

To ask for both parts, say 幾月幾號？ gei2 jyut6 gei2 hou6? — “What month and date?” or, naturally, “What’s the date?” With context, 今日幾號？ gam1 jat6 gei2 hou6? asks “What date is it today?”

Full dates: year + month + day

Cantonese puts larger units before smaller ones:

year + 年 + month + 月 + date + 號

A year is normally read digit by digit. 2026年7月12號 is 二零二六年七月十二號 (ji6 ling4 ji6 luk6 nin4 cat1 jyut6 sap6 ji6 hou6). This order differs from the most common spoken English order, “July 12th, 2026,” but it matches the numerical progression from largest to smallest.

The weekday can follow the date when useful:

七月十二號禮拜日

cat1 jyut6 sap6 ji6 hou6 lai5 baai3 jat6

Sunday, July 12th

Relative weeks and months

Cantonese commonly uses 上 (“previous”), 今 (“this”), and 下 (“next”) with the classifier 個 (go3) before a week or month. A classifier is a short counting word placed between a number-like expression and a noun.

Time	Week	Month
last	上個禮拜 soeng6 go3 lai5 baai3	上個月 soeng6 go3 jyut6
this	今個禮拜 gam1 go3 lai5 baai3	今個月 gam1 go3 jyut6
next	下個禮拜 haa6 go3 lai5 baai3	下個月 haa6 go3 jyut6

With 星期, you may similarly hear 上個星期, 今個星期, and 下個星期. For everyday days around today, learn 尋日 (cam4 jat6, yesterday), 今日 (gam1 jat6, today), and 聽日 (ting1 jat6, tomorrow).

Examples in Context

Cantonese	Jyutping	English	Note
今日禮拜幾？	gam1 jat6 lai5 baai3 gei2?	What day is today?	幾 replaces the weekday number.
今日禮拜三。	gam1 jat6 lai5 baai3 saam1.	Today is Wednesday.	No equivalent of “is” is needed here.
我哋禮拜六見。	ngo5 dei6 lai5 baai3 luk6 gin3.	We’ll see each other on Saturday.	A time expression can come before the verb.
星期日我唔使返工。	sing1 kei4 jat6 ngo5 m4 sai2 faan1 gung1.	I don’t have to work on Sunday.	Sunday uses 日, not a number.
你生日係幾月幾號？	nei5 saang1 jat6 hai6 gei2 jyut6 gei2 hou6?	What date is your birthday?	Literally asks which month and which date.
我生日係三月十五號。	ngo5 saang1 jat6 hai6 saam1 jyut6 sap6 ng5 hou6.	My birthday is March 15th.	Month comes before date.
個會議係五月十號。	go3 wui6 ji5 hai6 ng5 jyut6 sap6 hou6.	The meeting is on May 10th.	係 identifies the scheduled date.
今日係十二月三十一號。	gam1 jat6 hai6 sap6 ji6 jyut6 saam1 sap6 jat1 hou6.	Today is December 31st.	A complete month-and-date answer.
下個月我去香港。	haa6 go3 jyut6 ngo5 heoi3 hoeng1 gong2.	I’m going to Hong Kong next month.	下個月 means “next month.”
我哋下個禮拜一再傾。	ngo5 dei6 haa6 go3 lai5 baai3 jat1 zoi3 king1.	Let’s talk again next Monday.	Relative week + weekday.
張飛係八月二號。	zoeng1 fei1 hai6 baat3 jyut6 ji6 hou6.	The ticket is for August 2nd.	二號, not 兩號.
二零二六年七月十二號係禮拜日。	ji6 ling4 ji6 luk6 nin4 cat1 jyut6 sap6 ji6 hou6 hai6 lai5 baai3 jat6.	July 12th, 2026 is a Sunday.	Full date, then weekday.

Common Mistakes

Using an English-style month name

• Wrong: March 十五號
• Right: 三月十五號 (saam1 jyut6 sap6 ng5 hou6)
• Why: Cantonese month names are number + 月. Use the complete Cantonese pattern rather than inserting an English month name.

Reversing the month and date

• Wrong: 十五號三月
• Right: 三月十五號
• Why: Cantonese orders this expression from the larger unit to the smaller one: month first, then day. This is especially easy to miss if you are thinking of “the fifteenth of March.”

Adding 第 to make an ordinal date

• Wrong: 三月第十五號 for the ordinary date “March 15th”
• Right: 三月十五號
• Why: Although English uses an ordinal (“fifteenth”), an everyday Cantonese date uses the ordinary number directly before 號.

Using 兩 for February or the second day

• Wrong: 兩月兩號
• Right: 二月二號 (ji6 jyut6 ji6 hou6)
• Why: Fixed calendar labels use 二, even though 兩 is common for counting two items before classifiers.

Numbering Sunday

• Wrong: 禮拜七
• Right: 禮拜日 or 星期日
• Why: Monday through Saturday take one through six, but Sunday conventionally takes 日.

Confusing a date with a duration

• Wrong: 我去三號 when you mean “I’m going for three days.”
• Right: 我去三日 (ngo5 heoi3 saam1 jat6) — I’m going for three days.
• Why: 三號 is “the 3rd”; 三日 is “three days.” The unit changes the meaning.

Usage Notes

禮拜 and 星期

Both 禮拜 and 星期 are normal ways to name weekdays. 禮拜 has a conversational feel and is especially characteristic of colloquial Cantonese. 星期 is neutral and very widely understood; it also appears readily in schedules, announcements, and ordinary speech. Choose one while first learning the set, but train yourself to recognize both.

號 in speech, 日 in formal dates

In conversation, 號 is the natural marker for a day of the month: 五月十號. In formal written dates, forms with 日 are common, such as 2026年5月10日. Here 日 means the calendar day and is read jat6. A document may therefore show 10日 where you would naturally say 十號 aloud in casual conversation.

Time words usually need no “on”

English normally says “on Monday” and “in March.” Cantonese often places the time expression directly into the sentence without a matching preposition:

• 我禮拜一返工。 — I work/go to work on Monday.
• 佢八月返嚟。 — He or she is coming back in August.

Do not search for a one-to-one Cantonese equivalent of every English “on” or “in.” The position and calendar word already make the time relationship clear.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following points at A1, but you will encounter them in real calendars and more detailed plans.

Written date formats

Hong Kong forms often print dates numerically in year-month-day order, or label the fields with 年, 月, and 日. A short string such as 12/7/2026 can be ambiguous across international systems, so forms with characters—2026年7月12日—are clearer. When speaking casually, use 號 for the final unit.

Weeks as durations

禮拜 can name both a weekday series and a week as a unit. With a number and classifier, 兩個禮拜 (loeng5 go3 lai5 baai3) means “two weeks.” This is one place where 兩 is appropriate: it counts two units through 個. Contrast:

• 禮拜二 — Tuesday
• 兩個禮拜 — two weeks

The first is a weekday label and uses 二; the second is a quantity and naturally uses 兩.

Lunar-calendar dates

Traditional festivals and family occasions may be dated by the Chinese lunar calendar. You may see words such as 農曆 (nung4 lik6, lunar calendar) and date forms that do not behave exactly like ordinary Gregorian month-and-date labels. This is a separate system; for everyday appointments, travel dates, and modern forms, the basic patterns in this article are the right starting point.

Precise calendar questions

English “What day is it?” can ask either for the weekday or the calendar date. Cantonese makes the distinction explicit:

Question	What it asks for	Typical answer
今日禮拜幾？	weekday	禮拜三
今日幾號？	day of the month	十五號
今日係幾月幾號？	month and day	三月十五號

Choosing the right unit—禮拜, 月, or 號—makes your question unambiguous.

Practice Tips

1. Build dates instead of memorizing twelve unrelated names. Pick five dates that matter to you—your birthday, a holiday, a deadline—and say each as month + 月 + number + 號.
2. Run a daily three-question drill. Ask yourself 今日禮拜幾？, 今日幾號？, and 而家係幾月？ Answer aloud in Cantonese, paying attention to the number tones.
3. Read a real calendar both ways. For each day, say the conversational form with 號, then notice how a formal written calendar may use 日. Alternate 禮拜 and 星期 so both become familiar.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Numbers and Counting — provides the number forms used to build weekdays, months, years, and dates.