How to Say “I am taking a personal day” in Chinese
Work and study · HSK 3
"I am taking a personal day" in Chinese is 我今天请事假 (Wǒ jīntiān qǐng shìjià). Chinese leave categories are stricter than Western 'personal day.' 事假 (shìjià) is unpaid personal leave for handling matters; 病假 (bìngjià) is sick leave; 年假 (niánjià) is annual leave.
Primary translation
我今天请事假
Wǒ jīntiān qǐng shìjià
Traditional: 我今天請事假
Variants by register
Formal
我今天需要请一天事假处理私人事务
Wǒ jīntiān xūyào qǐng yì tiān shìjià chǔlǐ sīrén shìwù
Casual
我今天请假办点事
Wǒ jīntiān qǐngjià bàn diǎn shì
When to use it
Chinese leave categories are stricter than Western 'personal day.' 事假 (shìjià) is unpaid personal leave for handling matters; 病假 (bìngjià) is sick leave; 年假 (niánjià) is annual leave. There's no cultural equivalent of 'mental health day'you always give a reason, usually 家里有事 (something came up at home) or 办点事 (handle some things). The verb 请 (qǐng) here means 'to request,' and you typically message your boss on 钉钉 (DingTalk) or WeChat well in advance. Taking 事假 too often signals poor commitment in many mainland companies.
Example sentences
经理，我明天想请一天事假，家里有点事。
Jīnglǐ, wǒ míngtiān xiǎng qǐng yì tiān shìjià, jiālǐ yǒu diǎn shì.
Manager, I'd like to take a personal day tomorrowsomething came up at home.
她今天请事假，不在办公室。
Tā jīntiān qǐng shìjià, bú zài bàngōngshì.
She's on personal leave today, not in the office.
我今天请假办点事，下午就回来。
Wǒ jīntiān qǐngjià bàn diǎn shì, xiàwǔ jiù huílái.
I'm off today to handle something, I'll be back in the afternoon.