Korean grammar - Dates - day, month and year

Dates - day, month and year

Expressing dates in Korean is straight forward:

• A day of the month: Sino-korean number + 일 (day)

• A month of the year: Sino-korean number + 월 (month)

• A year: Sino-korean number + 년 (year)

Dates are strung together in reverse order: first the year, then the month and then the day.

To say 'on' a particular date we attach the particle 에.

Examples:
	오늘이 며칠이에요? What is the date (day) today? This is a common way to ask the date 며칠 means 'which day' or 'a few days' Note that 며칠 does not derive from 몇일 - this is a common misconception even among native speakers.
	오늘이 시월 이일이죠? Today is the 2nd of October, isn't it? 십 contracts to 시 when counting objects
	어제는 시월 십사일이었어요. Yesterday was the 14th of October.
	생일이 언제예요? When is (your) birthday? 생일 means 'birthday'
	생일이 며칠이에요? What date (day) is your birthday? Note again that it is not 몇일 (though this is a common misspelling)
	제 생일은 일월 십일일이에요. My birthday is the 11th of January.
	유월 일일에 졸업했어요. On the 1st of June (I) graduated. 육 contracts to 유 when counting objects
	몇 년이에요? What year is it?
	몇년생이에요? What year were (you) born? / How old are you? 생 means 'life'
	저는 천구백칠십팔년에 태어났어요. I was born in 1978.
	몇 월이에요? What month is it?
	당신의 아들은 몇 월에 태어났어요? What month was your son born? 태어나다 means 'to be born'
	그는 오월에 태어났어요. He was born in May.
	한국에서 광복절은 팔월 십오일이에요. In Korea National Liberation Day is the 15th of August. 광복절 is National Liberation Day celebrating Korean independence from Japan in 1945.
	팔월 십오일은 공휴일이에요. The 15th of August is a public holiday.
	천구백사십오년 한국의 독립이 이루어졌어요. Korean independence happened in 1945.
	이 책은 이천이십이년에 나왔어요. This book came out in 2022.