Example sentences
jīn今tiān天shì是jǐ几rì日？
What's today's date?
wǒ我de的shēng生rì日shì是wǔ五yuè月shí十rì日。
My birthday is May 10th.
The story behind the character
日
日 is a drawing of the sun: a circle with a mark in the middle. In the oracle bones it is a round disc with a dot or short line, and the dot was likely there to keep it from being mistaken for a plain circle. Xu Shen wrote 日，實也, the sun is full and solid, never waning.