日 (rì): day

Meanings

1 day
2 sun
3 date

Characters

日

rì

day; sun

Examples

今天是几月几日？

Jīntiān shì jǐ yuè jǐ rì?

What is today's date?

十月一日是国庆节。

Shíyuè yī rì shì Guóqìngjié.

October 1st is National Day.

Tips

history

日 is one of the most ancient Chinese characters — a pictograph of the sun. The dot or line in the middle represents a sunspot.

usage

日 is more formal/written than 天 for 'day'. Dates use 日: 三月十五日 (March 15th). Daily speech uses 天: 今天 (today), 明天 (tomorrow).

Components

pictograph

日 rì

sun; day

Pictograph of the sun. The rectangular outline is the solar disc, and the central horizontal stroke represents a sunspot or shimmer of light, the detail that distinguishes 日 from 口 'mouth'. As Kangxi radical #72 it is highly productive across time, brightness, and weather characters: 明 (bright), 时 (time), 早 (early), 晚 (late), 春 (spring), 晴 (clear), 暗 (dark).

Radical

Sun Kangxi #72

Pictograph of the sun with a central mark. One of the most productive radicals in the script — strong clue that a character involves time, brightness, or the heavens: 明 (bright), 时 (time), 早 (early), 晚 (late), 春 (spring), 暖 (warm), 晴 (sunny), 暗 (dark).