你的生日是几月几号？
nǐ de shēng rì shì jǐ yuè jǐ hào?
In Chinese, 'what is your birthday?' is said as 你的生日是几月几号？ (nǐ de shēng rì shì jǐ yuè jǐ hào?)
This phrase is a question used to ask someone for the specific month and day on which they were born. When asking for a date in Chinese, you must specify the month before the day, following the order of 'month' then 'day'.
What does it mean word for word?
The component 几月几号 literally translates to 'which month which day'.
How do you pronounce it?
nǐ de shēng rì shì jǐ yuè jǐ hào?
When do people say it?
A standard way to answer this question is to use the structure 我的生日是… (wǒ de shēng rì shì…) followed by the month and day.
Did you know?
- In traditional Chinese culture, some people celebrate their birthday based on the lunar calendar rather than the solar calendar, meaning their birthday changes every year on the Gregorian calendar.
- In China, it is a common custom for elders to celebrate their 60th birthday as a major milestone, as it represents the completion of one full cycle of the traditional sexagenary calendar.
- The character 月 (yuè) for 'month' is a pictograph that originally depicted a crescent moon, which is why the moon is fundamentally linked to the concept of months in Chinese.
Examples in context
- 你的生日是什么时候？When is your birthday?
- 你的生日是哪一天？Which day is your birthday?
- 你的生日是几月几号？Nǐ de shēngrì shì jǐ yuè jǐ hào?What is your birthday?
- 请问你的生日是几月几号？Qǐngwèn nǐ de shēngrì shì jǐ yuè jǐ hào?May I ask what your birthday is?
Example conversation
Two friends are chatting about their upcoming plans.
- 俊杰 Junjie雨婷，你的生日是几月几号？Yǔtíng, nǐ de shēngrì shì jǐ yuè jǐ hào?Yuting, what is your birthday?
- 雨婷 Yuting我的生日是五月十号。Wǒ de shēngrì shì wǔ yuè shí hào.My birthday is May 10th.
- 俊杰 Junjie那我们那天一起吃饭吧。Nà wǒmen nèitiān yìqǐ chīfàn ba.Then let's eat together that day.
- 雨婷 Yuting好啊，没问题！Hǎo a, méi wèntí!Okay, no problem!
