年月日【nián yuè rì】

A Chinese date runs from the largest unit to the smallest: year, then month, then day.

The same principle governs addresses, times and names – country before city, hour before minute, surname before given name. Once you expect it, dates stop needing thought.

The year is read digit by digit

2026 is 二〇二六, not 两千零二十六. Each digit is said on its own, and 〇 is the zero.

Months are numbered

一月 January through 十二月 December. There are no month names to learn.

号 in speech, 日 in writing

A form or a notice uses 日: 9月25日.

No 是 needed

今天九月二十五号 is the ordinary sentence. Adding 是 is correct but heavier, and the negative requires it: 今天不是二十五号.

Asking

几号 asks the day of the month, 几月 the month.