Question 1

What does 日 mean in Chinese?

Accepted Answer

日 (rì) means both 'day' and 'sun' — it is the pictograph the character started as. In modern Mandarin, bare 日 has largely been replaced in speech by 天 (tiān, 'day') and 太阳 (tàiyáng, 'sun'); you will rarely hear someone say 今日 instead of 今天 in casual conversation. Where 日 still rules is in writing dates and in two-character compounds.

Dates always use 日 in formal writing: 5月16日 (May 16). The character also locks into 生日 (shēngrì, 'birthday'), 日记 (rìjì, 'diary'), 星期日 (xīngqīrì, 'Sunday'), 日本

Question 2

How do you pronounce 日?

Accepted Answer

日 is pronounced rì — 日 (rì).

Question 3

Is 日 a noun, verb, or something else?

Accepted Answer

日 is a noun, register: written. Written / formal. In spoken Mandarin, 天 (tiān) is the everyday word for 'day.' 日 survives in dates, formal writing, and fixed compounds (生日, 日记, 星期日).

Question 4

What's the difference between 日 and 目?

Accepted Answer

目 ('eye') looks like 日 with an extra horizontal stroke inside. 日 has two strokes inside (or two segments); 目 has three. Different word, different meaning.

Question 5

What's the difference between 日 and 白?

Accepted Answer

白 ('white') is 日 with a small stroke on top. The components share a root visually but mean different things.

日

What does 日 mean?

Character breakdown

Example sentences

Common phrases with 日

Synonyms

Don't confuse 日 with

FAQ

Hear 日 in real Chinese, not in a flashcard.