# Days, Months and Dates

https://langs123.com/en/japanese/foundations/days-months-dates/
CEFR A0–A2 · 2026-10-24 · CC BY 4.0, langs123 contributors (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

> The days of the week, the months and the days of the month, how a date is put in order and how to say today, tomorrow and yesterday. A date runs from the larger unit to the smaller, month then day: **七月****しちがつ****三日****みっか**

## Summary

| Point | Rule | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Days of the week | seven days, each ending in **ようび** | **げつようび** / **どようび** | Monday / Saturday |
| Months | number + **がつ** | **ごがつ** / **じゅうにがつ** | May / December |
| Today, tomorrow, yesterday | **きょう**, **あした**, **きのう** | **きょう**はすいようびです。 | Today is Wednesday. |
| Day of the month | 1st–10th have their own words; from the 11th, number + **にち** | 七月しちがつ**三日****みっか** / 七月しちがつ**十一日****じゅういちにち** | 3 July / 11 July |
| Order of a date | year, month, day: **年** **月** **日** | **二千二十六年****にせんにじゅうろくねん****七月****しちがつ****三日****みっか** | 3 July 2026 |
| Asking | **何曜日****なんようび**, **何月****なんがつ**, **何月****なんがつ****何日****なんにち** | 今日きょうは**何月****なんがつ****何日****なんにち**ですか。 — 十月じゅうがつ二十四日にじゅうよっかです。 | What's the date today? — 24 October |
| Saying when | **に** after a weekday, month or date; none after **今日****きょう** or **来週****らいしゅう** | テストは**月曜日****げつようび****に**あります。 | The test is on Monday. |
| Every, the day before yesterday | **毎****まい** + day, week, month, year; **おととい**, **あさって** | **毎日****まいにち**、日本語にほんごを勉強べんきょうします。 | I study Japanese every day. |
| Trap | April, July and September: **しがつ**, **しちがつ**, **くがつ** | **しがつ** | April |
| Trap | the 1st is **ついたち**, the 20th **はつか** | 七月しちがつ**一日****ついたち** | 1 July |

## Days of the week

| Day |  |
| --- | --- |
| にちようび | Sunday |
| げつようび | Monday |
| かようび | Tuesday |
| すいようび | Wednesday |
| もくようび | Thursday |
| きんようび | Friday |
| どようび | Saturday |

- Every day ends in **ようび**, “day of the week”. げつ**ようび** / すい**ようび** / にち**ようび** (Monday / Wednesday / Sunday)
- Japanese calendars usually begin the week on Sunday.
- Ask the day with **なんようび**, and answer with the day and **です**. きょうは**なんようび**ですか。 — きょうはすいようびです。 (What day is it today? — Today is Wednesday.)
- Written, a day is its kanji plus **曜日****ようび**; the kanji name the sun, the moon and five elements. **月曜日****げつようび** / **金曜日****きんようび** (Monday / Friday)

| Kanji | Day |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **日****にち** | 日曜日にちようび | Sunday (sun) |
| **月****げつ** | 月曜日げつようび | Monday (moon) |
| **火****か** | 火曜日かようび | Tuesday (fire) |
| **水****すい** | 水曜日すいようび | Wednesday (water) |
| **木****もく** | 木曜日もくようび | Thursday (tree) |
| **金****きん** | 金曜日きんようび | Friday (gold) |
| **土****ど** | 土曜日どようび | Saturday (earth) |

## Months

| Month |  |
| --- | --- |
| いちがつ | January |
| にがつ | February |
| さんがつ | March |
| しがつ | April |
| ごがつ | May |
| ろくがつ | June |
| しちがつ | July |
| はちがつ | August |
| くがつ | September |
| じゅうがつ | October |
| じゅういちがつ | November |
| じゅうにがつ | December |

- A month is its number plus **がつ**: **ごがつ** is the fifth month, May. **ごがつ** / **じゅうにがつ** (May / December)
- April, July and September keep the old readings **し**, **しち** and **く**: **しがつ**, **しちがつ**, **くがつ**. **しがつ** / **しちがつ** / **くがつ** (April / July / September)
- In writing the number is a kanji or a digit, followed by **月****がつ**. **五月****ごがつ** / **十二月****じゅうにがつ** / **5****月****がつ** (May / December / May)

## Days of the month

| Date |  |
| --- | --- |
| 七月しちがつ**一日****ついたち** | 1 July |
| 七月しちがつ**二日****ふつか** | 2 July |
| 七月しちがつ**三日****みっか** | 3 July |
| 七月しちがつ**四日****よっか** | 4 July |
| 七月しちがつ**五日****いつか** | 5 July |
| 七月しちがつ**六日****むいか** | 6 July |
| 七月しちがつ**七日****なのか** | 7 July |
| 七月しちがつ**八日****ようか** | 8 July |
| 七月しちがつ**九日****ここのか** | 9 July |
| 七月しちがつ**十日****とおか** | 10 July |
| 七月しちがつ**十四日****じゅうよっか** | 14 July |
| 七月しちがつ**二十日****はつか** | 20 July |
| 七月しちがつ**二十四日****にじゅうよっか** | 24 July |

- From the 11th on, a day is its number plus **にち**; the 17th and the 19th take **しち** and **く**. 七月しちがつ**十一日****じゅういちにち** / 七月しちがつ**十七日****じゅうしちにち** / 七月しちがつ**二十九日****にじゅうくにち** (11 July / 17 July / 29 July)
- The words for the 2nd to the 10th also count days: **二日****ふつか** is the 2nd or two days. One day is **一日****いちにち**. See Counters. 二日ふつかかかります。 (It takes two days.)

## Years and the order of a date

- A date runs from the largest unit to the smallest: year **年**, month **月**, day **日**. **二千二十六年****にせんにじゅうろくねん****七月****しちがつ****三日****みっか** (3 July 2026)
- A year is a number plus **年****ねん**, read like any number. **二千二十六年****にせんにじゅうろくねん** / **千九百九十九年****せんきゅうひゃくきゅうじゅうくねん** (2026 / 1999)
- Digits are common in writing: the kanji **年**, **月** and **日** follow them. See Numbers. **2026****年****ねん****7****月****がつ****3****日****にち** (3 July 2026)
- Forms and official papers also count years by era: Reiwa 8 is 2026. **令和****れいわ****八年****はちねん**七月しちがつ三日みっか (3 July 2026)

## Today, tomorrow, yesterday

| Word | Meaning | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| きょう | today | **きょう**はすいようびです。 | Today is Wednesday. |
| あした | tomorrow | **あした**はもくようびです。 | Tomorrow is Thursday. |
| きのう | yesterday | **きのう**はにちようびでした。 | Yesterday was Sunday. |

- In writing they are **今日****きょう**, **明日****あした** and **昨日****きのう**. The past of **です** is **でした**: です: Am, Is, Are. **昨日****きのう**は日曜日にちようびでした。 (Yesterday was Sunday.)

| Unit | This | Next | Last |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| week | **今週****こんしゅう** | **来週****らいしゅう** | **先週****せんしゅう** |
| month | **今月****こんげつ** | **来月****らいげつ** | **先月****せんげつ** |
| year | **今年****ことし** | **来年****らいねん** | **去年****きょねん** |

- **あさって** is the day after tomorrow and **おととい** the day before yesterday. **あさって**は金曜日きんようびです。 / **おととい**は土曜日どようびでした。 (The day after tomorrow is Friday. / The day before yesterday was Saturday.)
- **毎****まい** before a unit means “every”: **毎日****まいにち**, **毎週****まいしゅう**, **毎月****まいつき**, **毎年****まいとし**. **毎週****まいしゅう**、土曜日どようびにテストがあります。 (There is a test every Saturday.)

## Asking and saying when

| Point | Rule | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Which weekday? | **何曜日****なんようび** | 今日きょうは**何曜日****なんようび**ですか。 — 金曜日きんようびです。 | What day is it today? — It's Friday. |
| Which month? | **何月****なんがつ** | 今いまは**何月****なんがつ**ですか。 — 十月じゅうがつです。 | What month is it now? — It's October. |
| Which date? | **何月****なんがつ****何日****なんにち** | 今日きょうは**何月****なんがつ****何日****なんにち**ですか。 — 十月じゅうがつ二十四日にじゅうよっかです。 | What's the date today? — 24 October |
| When? | **いつ** | パーティーは**いつ**ですか。 — 六月ろくがつ十日とおかです。 | When is the party? — On 10 June. |
| At a weekday, month or date | **に** follows the day, the month or the date. See Particles を, に, で, へ. | パーティーは**六月****ろくがつ****十日****とおか****に**あります。 / テストは**月曜日****げつようび****に**あります。 | The party is on 10 June. / The test is on Monday. |
| With today, next week | No **に** after **今日****きょう**, **明日****あした**, **昨日****きのう**, **来週****らいしゅう**. | **明日****あした**テストがあります。 / **来週****らいしゅう**パーティーがあります。 | There is a test tomorrow. / There is a party next week. |

## Typical errors

| ✗ | ✓ |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| よんがつ | **しがつ** | the fourth month is read **しがつ**, never **よんがつ** |
| きゅうがつ | **くがつ** | the ninth month is read **くがつ**, never **きゅうがつ** |
| 七月しちがつ一日いちにち | 七月しちがつ**一日****ついたち** | the first of the month is **一日****ついたち**; **一日****いちにち** means “one day” |
| 七月しちがつ五日ごにち | 七月しちがつ**五日****いつか** | the 1st to the 10th have words of their own; number + **にち** starts at the 11th |
| 七月しちがつ二十日にじゅうにち | 七月しちがつ**二十日****はつか** | the 20th is **二十日****はつか**, not **二十日****にじゅうにち** |
| 三日みっか七月しちがつ | **七月****しちがつ****三日****みっか** | the month comes before the day; Japanese has no day-first order |
| 明日あしたにテストがあります。 | **明日****あした**テストがあります。 | **明日****あした** is a time word counted from now and takes no **に** |