Chinese word

号

Pronunciation

Pinyinhào

Meaning

  • noundate

Example

今天是几号？jīn tiān shì jǐ hào

What date is it today?

Illustration for 号 (date)

More examples

我不知道明天是几号。wǒ bù zhī dào míng tiān shì jǐ hào

I don't know what date tomorrow is.

Core concept

A number that labels something by its place in an ordered system, such as a day, an item, or a size.

Common phrases

  • 几号jǐ hào

    what date

Similar words

日rì: A particular day on the calendar, with a formal or written tone.
天tiān: One full day counted as a unit of time.
号码hào mǎ: A number that identifies a telephone, certificate, or other item.

Definition in Chinese

用来表示日期中的日数，作为口语问法时常与“几”连用询问当天的日子。yòng lái biǎo shì rì qī zhōng de rì shù zuò wéi kóu yǔ wèn fǎ shí cháng yǔ jǐ lián yòng xún wèn dàng tiān de rì zi

Word origin

The word grew from an older sense of calling out or giving something a name to marking it with an identifying number.

Usage tips

  • English usually expresses a calendar date with an ordinal such as "third," but Chinese uses the ordinary day number with this word, making the two patterns easy to distinguish.

Other meanings

  • numbernoun
  • sizenoun

Related words

Word lists with this word