How to Say “Deadline” in Chinese
Work and study · HSK 4
"Deadline" in Chinese is 截止日期 (jié zhǐ rì qī). 截止日期 (jiézhǐ rìqī, "cut-off date") is the formal Chinese word for deadline. In tech and startup culture, the English word "deadline"; pronounced roughly "dai-de-lain"; is casually inserted into Chinese speech.
Primary translation
截止日期
jié zhǐ rì qī
Variants by register
Casual
deadline
DDL
When to use it
截止日期 (jiézhǐ rìqī, "cut-off date") is the formal Chinese word for deadline. In tech and startup culture, the English word "deadline"; pronounced roughly "dai-de-lain"; is casually inserted into Chinese speech. DDL is the texted shorthand. For "the deadline is X", 截止日期是X. For "we are past the deadline": 过了期限 (guò le qīxiàn). 加班 (jiābān) is working overtime; ubiquitous in Chinese tech companies, sometimes to a problematic "996" (9am-9pm, 6 days) extreme.
Example sentences
这个项目的截止日期是什么时候？
Zhège xiàngmù de jiézhǐ rìqī shì shénme shíhou?
What is the deadline for this project?
DDL快到了，要加班了。
DDL kuài dào le, yào jiābān le.
The deadline is approaching, time for overtime.
能延期吗？
Néng yánqī ma?
Can we extend the deadline?