Meaning of 月
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- moon
- month
- monthly
Measure word: 個|个,輪|轮
How to use 月
In daily speech 月 is used most for months and dates, while the moon in the sky is usually 月亮 (yuèliang). Months are simply numbers plus 月, so January is 一月 (yīyuè) and December is 十二月 (shí'èryuè). Example: 我下个月去北京。(Wǒ xià ge yuè qù Běijīng.) I am going to Beijing next month.
月 (yuè) looks like a crescent moon with a couple of lines inside, standing upright. Since the moon goes through its cycle about once a month, the same character means both moon and month.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 一月 (yīyuè), January, with 一个月 (yí ge yuè), one month as a length of time. Also, when 月 appears on the left side of characters like 胖 or 脑, it usually comes from the old form of 肉 (meat, body), not the moon.
月 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
月 yuè · moon · 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
Related words
Words that share a character with 月.
Questions about 月
What does 月 mean?
月 (yuè) means "moon; month" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 月?
月 is made of 1 character: 月 (4 strokes). That is 4 strokes in total.
Is 月 an HSK word?
Yes. 月 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 月亮 and 月球?
月亮 (yuèliang) is the everyday word for the moon you see at night, used in conversation, songs and poems. 月球 (yuèqiú) is the scientific term for the moon as a celestial body, used in news or science contexts like space missions.
How do you say a date with 月 in Chinese?
Chinese dates go from large to small: year, month, day. For example, 2024年5月3日 (èr líng èr sì nián wǔ yuè sān rì) means May 3, 2024, and in speech 号 (hào) often replaces 日, as in 五月三号.