Dates and days of the week: 년, 월, 일, 요일

Month, then day

3월 8일 is 8 March, read 삼월 팔 일. 5월 25일 is 25 May, read 오월 이십오 일. A date is a number + 월, then a number + 일. Whichever order you use in English, Korean always puts the month first.

Dates are written with digits and read as words. The numbers are the Sino-Korean ones you used for prices and minutes (일, 이, 삼 …), never 하나, 둘, 셋.

This 일 means “day of the month”. It is not the number 일 “one”, though it is spelled the same.

Numbers up to 31

Days run to 31, so you need numbers above ten. They are built just as prices were: 십오, ten-five, is 15. 삼십, three-ten, is 30. 삼십일, thirty-one, is 31.

8월 15일 is read 팔월 십오 일. And once, so that it does not surprise you: 12월 31일 is read 십이월 삼십일 일. The first 일 is the number one, the second is “day”.

The twelve months

Korean months have no names of their own. Each is simply its number plus 월, written as one word: 일월 is “month one”, January; 이월 is February, and so on to 십이월, December.

Two of them change, and those are the only two you have to learn: June is 유월, not 육월, and October is 시월, not 십월. The number loses its final consonant. The other ten are just the numbers you know.

What’s the date? 며칠이에요?

오늘이 며칠이에요? — what’s the date today? 10월 5일이에요 — it’s 5 October.

며칠 asks for the day of the month. It is one word and is always spelled this way. The answer is the date followed by 이에요, because 일 ends in a consonant.

The year comes first

2026년 10월 5일 — 5 October 2026. A full date always runs from the largest unit to the smallest: 년 year, 월 month, 일 day. English puts the year last; Korean puts it first.

The year is read as one ordinary number: 이천이십육 년, “two thousand twenty-six”. It is never split in two like English “twenty twenty-six”, and never read digit by digit.

The seven days

월요일 Monday, 화요일 Tuesday, 수요일 Wednesday, 목요일 Thursday, 금요일 Friday, 토요일 Saturday, 일요일 Sunday.

Every name ends in 요일; only the first syllable changes. Treat each as a single word: the 월 of 월요일 is not the “month” of dates, and the 일 of 일요일 is not “day”.

A final consonant links to 요: 월요일 [워료일], 목요일 [모교일], 금요일 [그묘일], 일요일 [이료일].

Which day? When is your birthday?

무슨 요일이에요? — what day of the week is it? 오늘은 월요일이에요. 무슨 means “what” or “which” and always stands before a noun.

생일 is a birthday: 생일이 언제예요? — when is your birthday? 제 생일은 6월 15일이에요. Keep three questions apart: 며칠 asks for the date, 무슨 요일 for the day of the week, and 몇 시 for the time on the clock.

무슨 요일 is said as one phrase with an added ㄴ: [무슨 뇨일].

On Saturday, on 5 October: 에

토요일에 만나요 — let’s meet on Saturday. 10월 5일에 한국에 가요 — I’m going to Korea on 5 October.

A day or a date takes the time particle 에, exactly like 일곱 시에. English switches between “at”, “on” and “in”; Korean uses 에 for all of them. As before, 오늘, 내일 and 어제 take no 에.