In this post, you will learn how to read a date in Korean! You will also learn about the seven days of the week! At the end, you will also see the expressions to ask for the day or date.
1. Date
First, let's see how we can read the date. It is called 날짜 in Korean. To read a date, we need to use the Sino-Korean numbers. Please click here if you want to know or review about it.
A. Year
You can read the year by saying the Sino-Korean number and adding the word 년 [nyeon]. 년(年) is a unit for counting years.
The number and the counting word 년 are supposed to have a space between them. However, it is allowed to be attached without a space. Here are some examples for you.
2024 | 2000 + 20 + 4 | |
1999 | 1000 + 900 + 90 +9 | |
1787 | 1000 + 700 + 80 + 7 |
What year were you born? Can you read that in Korean?
B. Month
To read months in Korean, you use the Sino-Korean number and add 월 [wol]. 월 means moon(月) in Chinese character. It is a unit for counting months.
So, January is 일월, 1 month. February is 이월, 2 month. Pretty easy, right? Here are all the month names! Again, you are supposed to put a space between 일 and 월, but you are allowed to attach them.
January | |
February | |
March | |
April | |
May | |
June | |
July | |
August | |
September | |
October | |
November | |
December |
Please pay attention to June and October (I marked them with *). 6 is 육 in the Sino-Korean, but in the month reading, you have to say 유월, not 육월. 10 is 십 but October is 시월, not 십월. It happened because it is hard to pronounce 육월 and 십월, so they became 유월 and 시월.
Reading Material
Historically, Koreans used the lunar calendar. The one-month unit was based on the appearance of the moon. It took about 29 days to be changed from (for example) full moon to full moon. We can guess that is why people used 월(moon) as a unit of the month.
C. Numbered Day
To read the days, use the Sino-Korean number and add 일 [il]. 일, in this case, means day. It came from the meaning "sun(日)" as the sun comes up every day!
So if you say 일일 that will be day 1. 이일 is day 2. It is pretty logical, right? Here are all 31 days of the month.
D. How do you read the dates in Korean?
Now, let's combine all and read the date in Korean! In Korean, the date is a "month-day" order. So, read the month as a number and 월, and add the day with a number and 일. Here are some examples.
January 1st | Month 1 Day 1 | |
February 5th | Month 2 Day 5 | |
May 30th | Month 5 Day 30 |
Let's add a year to it. In Korean, you read the bigger units first. So, you need to say the year at the beginning. So, the order is a "year - month - day".
April 7th, 2013 | |
June 30th, 2024 | |
October 25th, 1997 |
What date is it today? When is your birthday? Can you read them in Korean?
2. Days
To read seven days a week, we need to use the word 요일 [yo-il] day. Listen and repeat to each word. Also, for fun facts, I put where their names come from.
Monday | Day of the Moon (月) | |
Tuesday | Day of the Fire (火) | |
Wednesday | Day of the Water (水) | |
Thursday | Day of the Tree (木) | |
Friday | Day of the Metal/Gold (金) | |
Saturday | Day of the Land (土) | |
Sunday | Day of the Sun (日) |
3. Questions
1) What date is it?
며칠 means "what date". The word itself has the 'what' in it. So to ask "What date is it?" you can use an expression like the one below.
What date is it? |
Just like in English, Koreans use "is" in the sentence too."Is" in Korean is 이에요/예요. The last word of 며칠 is 칠. It has the final consonant. So, you need to use 이에요. If you want to know more about the Korean be verb, please click here.
Then how can we ask "What date is it today?" in Korean? You can attach 오늘(today) to the sentence above. You can attach the subject marker, but it can be omitted in daily conversations.
What date is it today? | You can choose any expression. |
With the subject marker | |
Marker is omitted |
2) When is your birthday?
Birthday" is 생일 in Korean. "When" is 언제. It ends with 제 which doesn't have the final consonant. So you will add 예요 to it.
birthday | |
When is your birthday? | |
What date is your birthday? |
3) What day is it?
To ask 'what day,' you can use 무슨 요일. 무슨 means what and 요일 means a day.
What day is it? | |
What day is it today? |
⚐ Language Tip: 무엇 vs. 무슨
무슨 means "what" and is used as a determiner before a noun. For example, if you add 무슨 to 요일, it means "what day". If you add 무슨 to 음식, it means "what food".
무엇, on the other hand, means "what" and is used as a pronoun. It can function as a noun, so you can add a subject marker or an object marker to it, just like you would with a noun. It can also be shortened to 뭐. In summary, 무슨 and 무엇 both mean "what", but 무슨 is used to describe a noun while 무엇 can be used as a noun itself.
4. Examples
Let's combine all the things you've learned here and practice asking and answering about the date!
1
가: 오늘은 며칠이에요? What date is it today?
나: 십이월 십구일이에요. It's December 19th.
To ask and answer in a full sentence, you need to use the verb 이에요.
2
학생: 선생님, 오늘이 며칠이에요? What date is it today, teacher?
선생님: 팔월 이십일이에요. It's August 20th.
학생 is a student and 선생님 is a teacher. When you call teacher, you shouldn't use their names like English! That is very rude! You must call them 선생님(teacher).
3
린다: 수지 씨, 생일이 언제예요? Hey Su-ji, when is your birthday?
수지: 오월 삼일이에요. It's May 3rd.
4
다: 오늘이 무슨 요일이에요? What day is it today?
라: 월요일이에요. It is Monday.
6. Wrap-up & Worksheets: How to read dates in Korean?
To read dates in Korean, use the Sino-Korean number system with appropriate unit words! Here is the summary of this lesson.
년 for a year, 월 for a month, and 일 for the day.
What date is it today? 오늘이 며칠이에요?
When is your birthday? 생일이 언제예요?
What day is it today? 오늘이 무슨 요일이에요?
Please download these free, printable PDF worksheets to practice what you learned today! If you liked my lesson, please subscribe to my website for the lesson updates! Thank you for studying with My Korean Lesson! 😊
Practice the days!
Solve the quiz!