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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

汉字	Pinyin	POS	Meaning
今天	jīntiān	n.	today
明天	míngtiān	n.	tomorrow
昨天	zuótiān	n.	yesterday
号	hào	m.w.	date / number
月	yuè	n.	month (revisit Bk1)
年	nián	n.	year
今年	jīnnián	n.	this year
明年	míngnián	n.	next year
去年	qùnián	n.	last year
新年	xīnnián	n.	new year
生日	shēngrì	n.	birthday
白月	Bái Yuè	pn.	Bai Yue (persona — design student)

New characters

汉字	Pinyin	Meaning
今	jīn	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	zuó	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

日期表达 — 几月几号 Dates — month and date

中文日期: 年 → 月 → 号 → 星期 → 时间. 例: 2026 年 5 月 1 号. 问"今天几号?"问号; "今天几月几号?" 问月+号. 答: X 月 X 号 / X 年 X 月.

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).

今天几月几号? Jīntiān jǐ yuè jǐ hào? What month / date is today?
今天五月一号. Jīntiān wǔ yuè yī hào. Today's May 1st.
我的生日是十月十号. Wǒ de shēngrì shì shí yuè shí hào. My birthday is October 10.
今年是 2026 年. Jīnnián shì 2026 nián. 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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