星期 (xīngqī) — week; day of the week

星期 (xīngqī)

The word for "week" and the base for all weekday names; add a number 1–6 for Monday through Saturday, and add 日 or 天 for Sunday: 星期一 (Monday), 星期二 (Tuesday), ..., 星期六 (Saturday), 星期日/星期天 (Sunday).

Meanings

1. [noun] Week (a period of seven days).
2. [noun] Day of the week (when followed by a number or 日/天).

Example Sentences

今天星期几？ Jīntiān xīngqī jǐ? What day of the week is today?

我星期一到星期五上班。 Wǒ xīngqīyī dào xīngqīwǔ shàngbān. I work Monday through Friday.

这个星期我很忙。 Zhège xīngqī wǒ hěn máng. I am very busy this week.

星期六我们去爬山吧。 Xīngqīliù wǒmen qù páshān ba. Let's go hiking on Saturday.

Collocations

Memory Hook

星期 literally means "star period" (星 = star, 期 = period). Ancient Chinese astronomers named the seven days after the five visible planets plus the sun and moon. Each day was a cosmic star period.