Pariksha SaathiCalendar Questions with Solutions (Day of the Week)
Calendar questions ask you to find the day of the week for a given date — the whole topic rests on counting "odd days" (the remainder left over after dividing the day-gap by 7) and shifting a known reference day forward by that many. Here’s the concept, four fully worked examples, and a few to try yourself.
The concept, quickly
- A normal year has 365 days = 52 weeks + 1 extra day, so it contributes 1 "odd day". A leap year has 366 days, contributing 2 odd days.
- A year is a leap year if it’s divisible by 4 — EXCEPT a century year (ending in 00), which is a leap year only if it’s also divisible by 400. (So 2000 was a leap year, but 1900 was not — this century exception is the most commonly tested trap.)
- To find the day of the week for a target date given a known reference date: count the number of days between them, find the remainder when divided by 7 (the odd days), then shift the reference day forward by that many days.
- For same-date, different-year questions, you can skip counting individual days — just add up one odd day per normal year and two per leap year between the two dates.
Worked examples
1. If 1 January 2024 was a Monday, what day of the week was 1 January 2025?
Solution
- 2024 is a leap year (366 days), so it contributes 2 odd days.
- Shift Monday forward by 2 days: Monday → Tuesday → Wednesday.
Answer: Wednesday
2. Today is Wednesday. What day will it be after 15 days?
Solution
- 15 ÷ 7 leaves a remainder of 1 (15 = 2×7 + 1), so the odd days are 1.
- Shift Wednesday forward by 1 day: Wednesday → Thursday.
Answer: Thursday
3. If 1 March 2023 was a Wednesday, what day of the week was 15 March 2023?
Solution
- The gap is 15 − 1 = 14 days.
- 14 ÷ 7 leaves a remainder of 0, so there are no odd days — the day of the week repeats exactly.
Answer: Wednesday (same as 1 March, since 14 days is exactly 2 weeks)
4. Was the year 1900 a leap year? Was the year 2000?
Solution
- 1900 is divisible by 4, but it’s a century year, so it must also be divisible by 400 to qualify — 1900 ÷ 400 is not a whole number, so 1900 was NOT a leap year.
- 2000 is also a century year, and 2000 ÷ 400 = 5 exactly, so 2000 WAS a leap year.
Answer: 1900 was not a leap year; 2000 was a leap year
Try these yourself
Count the odd days the same way, then check against the answer.
1. If 1 January 2023 was a Sunday, what day of the week was 1 January 2024?
Answer: Monday (2023 is not a leap year, so it contributes only 1 odd day)
2. Today is Saturday. What day was it 23 days ago?
Answer: Thursday (23 ÷ 7 leaves a remainder of 2, so shift Saturday backward by 2 days)
3. If 5 June 2024 was a Wednesday, what day of the week was 19 June 2024?
Answer: Wednesday (the gap is 14 days, exactly 2 weeks, so the day repeats)
Where this comes up
Calendar is a regular topic in the Reasoning/General Intelligence section of every exam Pariksha Saathi covers — SSC CGL, SSC MTS, SSC CHSL, IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, SBI PO and SBI Clerk.
Practice more Calendar questions
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