Dates & Days of the Week
Learn to read and say dates, months, and days of the week in Korean.
Korean dates and days of the week follow the Sino-Korean number system with specific counter words. Months are 1월 (January), 2월 (February) etc., read as 일월, 이월. Days of the month are 1일, 2일 etc., read as 일일, 이일. Days of the week use specific names: 월요일 (Monday), 화요일 (Tuesday), 수요일 (Wednesday), 목요일 (Thursday), 금요일 (Friday), 토요일 (Saturday), 일요일 (Sunday).
The day-of-the-week names come from classical Chinese cosmology (moon, fire, water, wood, gold, earth, sun), which is identical to the Japanese system (月・火・水・木・金・土・日). Japanese speakers can recognise the pattern immediately. Full date format follows year > month > day, the same as Japanese: 2026년 5월 24일. Be ready to read and write dates in this format; it differs from English's month-day-year or day-month-year conventions.
Days of the Week — All 7 Days
The 7 days use 월화수목금토일 + 요일: 월요일(Mon), 화요일(Tue), 수요일(Wed), 목요일(Thu), 금요일(Fri), 토요일(Sat), 일요일(Sun). Use 에 to mean 'on [day]'. For 'every [day]' use 마다: 월요일마다(every Monday).
Dates: 년/월/일 and Relative Time
Format: [year]년 [month]월 [day]일. All use sino-Korean numbers. Relative time: 그저께(day before yesterday), 어제(yesterday), 오늘(today), 내일(tomorrow), 모레(day after tomorrow). Weeks: 이번 주(this week), 지난주(last week), 다음 주(next week).
Cultural & Language Note
Korean weekday names come from the same Sino-Japanese set as Japanese ones — 월요일 and 月曜日 share both the character and the logic of moon, fire, water, wood, gold, earth, sun. A Japanese speaker who knows the kanji can essentially read the Korean week without studying it. This is one of the clearest illustrations of how much shared vocabulary the two languages carry.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Dates are read with Sino-Korean numbers throughout — 시월 이십오 일, not native numbers. Note the irregular month names: June is 유월 and October is 시월, dropping a consonant from the expected 육월 and 십월. Learners who apply the pattern mechanically produce forms Koreans never say.