What Is the Date in Korean Now? Ask and Answer Today's Date

Before you start

• Level: beginner (A1). Time: about 35 minutes.
• Needed: Korean days of the month for the 1일 to 31일 list.
• Useful: Korean date format for the order of year, month and day.
• Audio: every example has a play button. Repeat each clip aloud.

What Is the Date in Korean Now?

The date in Korean now is today's month and day, said with 월 (month) and 일 (day). This page cannot show the live date, so learn the frame and fill in today. The reusable frame is 오늘은 [month]월 [day]일이에요, which means "Today is [month] [day]". If today is October 8, the answer is 오늘은 시월 팔 일이에요.

Replace the month and day in the answer with the real date whenever you use it. The month names are on months in Korean, and the sections below show each question type in turn.

How Do You Ask the Date in Korean?

You ask the date with one of three questions, and each question asks for a different piece of the date. 며칠 asks for the day of the month, 몇 월 며칠 asks for month and day, and 무슨 요일 asks for the weekday.

The first question is the shortest and the most common. The word 몇 means "how many" or "which number", and in 몇 월 it asks "which month". It is spoken [며둴]. The word 요일 means "day of the week", so 무슨 요일 means "which weekday". After each question comes the answer.

How Do You Answer?

To answer a date question, repeat the question's pattern with numbers: 오늘은 [number] 일이에요. Use the full month and day when the other person asks for both, and the short answer when only the day is needed.

Each answer uses a Sino-Korean number and the unit 월 or 일. The topic particle 은/는 after 오늘 marks today as the topic of the sentence, and 이에요 means "is". The full list of days from 1일 to 31일, including the sound changes in 6일 and 16일, is on the days of the month page.

What Is the Difference between 며칠 and 몇 일?

The standard word is 며칠, written as one word, and the spelling 몇 일 or 몇일 is not standard. The word looks like it should be 몇 + 일 (how many + day), but Korean spelling fixes it as 며칠 because the pronunciation is [며칠]. Writing it correctly is an easy way to look careful.

The rule of thumb: 몇 stays a separate word before 월, 시, 명 and 개, but 며칠 is a fixed word on its own. The National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) dictionary lists 며칠 as the standard form. Next, a look at a full date with the year.

How Do You Say Today's Date in Full?

To say today's date in full, give the year, month, day and weekday in that order: 이천이십육 년 시월 팔 일 목요일. The year comes first and is read as one Sino-Korean number. In daily conversation you drop the year and say 시월 팔 일 목요일.

The reason for the full order is explained on Korean date format: Korean runs from the largest unit to the smallest. When you only need today's date, the medium answer is the natural choice.

How Do You Say Yesterday's, Today's and Tomorrow's Date?

Five relative words replace the date when you talk about nearby days: 그저께 (the day before yesterday), 어제 (yesterday), 오늘 (today), 내일 (tomorrow) and 모레 (the day after tomorrow). Pair each with a date to answer questions like "What is tomorrow's date?".

To ask, say 내일은 며칠이에요? (What is tomorrow's date?). The past form 이었어요 in 어제는 시월 칠 일이었어요 shows that the day has passed, while the date numbers stay the same. This table is ideal for a daily routine: each morning, say today's date aloud and then say tomorrow's.

How Do You Ask the Weekday?

To ask the weekday, say 오늘 무슨 요일이에요? and answer with the name of the day plus 이에요: 오늘은 목요일이에요. The seven weekday names all end in 요일, and the first syllable names a heavenly body or element: 월 (moon), 화 (fire), 수 (water), 목 (wood), 금 (metal), 토 (earth) and 일 (sun).

The weekday answer can follow the date: 시월 팔 일은 목요일이에요 (October 8 is a Thursday). For the sound and background of each name, see days of the week in Korean. Two related words help in planning talk: 평일 (a weekday, Monday to Friday) and 주말 (the weekend). 평일에는 바빠요 means "I am busy on weekdays", and 주말에 만나요 means "Let's meet on the weekend". A different type of question comes next, the birthday.

How Do You Ask and Say a Birthday?

To ask a birthday, say 생일이 몇 월 며칠이에요? (What month and day is your birthday?) or the shorter 생일이 언제예요? (When is your birthday?). The answer is 제 생일은 삼월 이십일 일이에요 (My birthday is March 21). The word 생일 means birthday, and 제 is the humble form of "my".

For an elder or a respected person, use the honorific noun 생신 and the honorific ending 세요, which shows respect in both the noun and the verb. An elder answering about their own birthday still says 생일, because speakers never honor themselves. When you want to congratulate someone, the phrases are on the Korean celebration phrases page. Next comes a longer example in context.

How Do You Ask the Date of an Event?

To ask the date of an event, put the event first and use 며칠 or 몇 월 며칠 as the question: 시험이 며칠이에요? (What day is the exam?) The event takes the subject particle 이/가, and the answer names the date: 시험은 십일월 십오 일이에요.

The particles 부터 (from) and 까지 (until) attach directly to 며칠, and the copula 예요 follows. After a vowel-final word such as 부터 or 까지, the polite copula is 예요. After a consonant-final word such as 며칠, it is 이에요. That is why 며칠이에요 and 며칠부터예요 look different even though they use the same ending.

What Is the Difference between 언제 and 며칠?

언제 (eonje) means "when" in the widest sense, and 며칠 asks only for the day of the month. If you ask 시험이 언제예요?, the answer can be a date, a weekday, a time or a relative phrase such as "next week". If you ask 시험이 며칠이에요?, the answer must be a day of the month.

Because 언제 is open, it is the best first question when you do not know what kind of answer to expect. Once you know the answer is a date, 며칠 gives a sharper reply.

How Do You Ask the Date and Time Together?

To ask for the date and the time together, join the two questions: 몇 월 며칠 몇 시예요? (What month, day and time is it?) This form is common when you book an appointment, a flight or a class. The answer follows the same order: month, day, time.

Notice that the clock hour uses a native number (두 시), while the month and the day use Sino-Korean numbers (시월, 십이 일). This split is the key idea of Korean time and date speech, and the page on telling the hour with 시 explains the native half in depth.

What Does a Date Conversation Sound Like?

A date conversation is a short exchange of a question, an answer and a follow-up. The dialogue below shows two coworkers who check a deadline on the calendar.

• 지수: 오늘 며칠이에요? (What is today's date?)
• 민호: 오늘은 시월 팔 일이에요. (Today is October 8.)
• 지수: 무슨 요일이에요? (What day of the week is it?)
• 민호: 목요일이에요. (It is Thursday.)
• 지수: 그럼 마감일이 내일이에요? (Then is the deadline tomorrow?)
• 민호: 네, 내일은 시월 구 일 금요일이에요. (Yes, tomorrow is Friday, October 9.)

Read the dialogue twice. First, play each line and repeat it. Then cover one speaker's lines and answer from memory. The dialogue uses the date example from the rest of the page: October 8 and 9, 2026 fall on a Thursday and a Friday.

How Do You Ask the Date Politely, Formally and Casually?

The question and answer change only in their endings across speech levels. 며칠 and the numbers stay the same. Use the polite 이에요 form with strangers, colleagues and adults, and use the casual form only with close friends.

The polite 에요 level is safe in almost every situation. The formal 입니다 level appears in announcements, presentations and customer service. Because the numbers do not change across levels, learning one frame is enough for all three.

What Does 날짜 Mean?

날짜 (naljja) is the noun for "date" as a calendar entry, and it appears in the longer question 오늘 날짜가 어떻게 되죠? (What is today's date?). The word 일자 is a more formal variant for documents, as in 계약 일자 (contract date).

The question 오늘 무슨 날이에요? does not ask for the date. It asks "Is today a special day?", for example a holiday or an anniversary. This is a useful contrast with the date questions above.

What Are 양력 and 음력 Dates?

양력 (yangnyeok) is the solar calendar that Korea uses for daily life, and 음력 (eumnyeok) is the lunar calendar used for traditional holidays. If you ask 오늘 며칠이에요?, the answer is always a 양력 date. Add 음력 only when the topic is a traditional day.

설날 and 추석 are 음력 dates, so their 양력 dates move from year to year. Korean calendars print both, which is why you may hear 양력으로 며칠이에요? (What is it in the solar calendar?). The first day of a lunar month is called 초하루, as described on the days-of-the-month page.

How Do You Say the Date in a Text Message?

In a text message, Koreans write the date in numerals with 월 and 일 and often drop the year: 10월 8일 (목). A common chat style is 10/8 (목) or 10.8 목. Messages that set a plan add the time after the date: 10월 8일 목요일 오후 3시.

The spoken version of 10/8 (목) is 시월 팔 일 목요일. Notice that the weekday short form sits in parentheses in the written style. Now that you can ask, answer and write the date, look at the errors that most learners make.

What Mistakes Do Learners Make?

Six errors cover most wrong date questions. Read the wrong form first, then the fix.

1. Writing 몇일. Wrong: 오늘 몇일이에요? Fix: 오늘 며칠이에요?
2. Using native numbers. Wrong: 오늘은 여덟 일이에요. Fix: 오늘은 팔 일이에요.
3. Dropping the unit. Wrong: 오늘은 시월 팔이에요. Fix: 오늘은 시월 팔 일이에요.
4. Confusing 무슨 요일 and 무슨 일. 오늘 무슨 요일이에요? asks the weekday. 오늘 무슨 일이에요? asks "What is going on today?" or "What is the matter?".
5. Reading 6월 and 10월 as 육월 and 십월. Fix: 유월 and 시월.
6. Putting the weekday first. Wrong: 목요일 시월 팔 일이에요. Fix: 시월 팔 일 목요일이에요.

Honest limits. Native speakers often drop 오늘은 and answer with only the date: 시월 팔 일이요. Here 이요 is the polite marker 요 attached straight to the answer word (with 이 after a consonant). It is common in speech but unusual in writing. This page teaches the full forms because they are accepted in every situation.

Practice Set

Answer each item before you read the answer line.

1. Ask "What is today's date?" politely.
2. Answer "Today is October 8" in Korean.
3. Ask "What day of the week is it today?"
4. Say "Tomorrow is the 9th".
5. Correct the mistake: 오늘 몇일이에요?
6. Say "My birthday is March 21".

Answers:

1. 오늘 며칠이에요?
2. 오늘은 시월 팔 일이에요.
3. 오늘 무슨 요일이에요?
4. 내일은 구 일이에요.
5. 오늘 며칠이에요? The standard spelling is 며칠.
6. 제 생일은 삼월 이십일 일이에요.

If you got five or more, you are ready to move on.

A one-minute daily routine. Each morning, ask yourself 오늘 몇 월 며칠이에요? and answer aloud with the weekday. Then say tomorrow's date. After two weeks, the Sino-Korean day numbers from 일 일 to 삼십일 일 come out without counting on your fingers, and the sound changes in 6일 and 16일 start to feel automatic.

The Bottom Line

To ask what is the date in Korean now, say 오늘 며칠이에요? and answer 오늘은 시월 팔 일이에요 with the real month and day. Two nuances matter most. First, 며칠 is the standard spelling and the month and day always take Sino-Korean numbers with 월 and 일. Second, 무슨 요일 asks for the weekday, while 무슨 일 asks what is happening.

Continue with these pages:

• Korean days of the month for the complete 1일 to 31일 list.
• Korean date format for the written order of year, month and day.
• Days of the week in Korean for the seven weekday names.
• Dates in Korean for the full section.

Frequently Asked Questions

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