Day Eight, Eighth Day
Noun
ようか
わたしのなつやすみは、八日かんです。
My summer break is eight days long.
すみませんが、水を下さいませんか。もう八日もなにもたべていないんです。
Could you please give me some water? I haven't eaten anything for eight days.
らい月の八日にじの手じゅつをするよていです。
I’m going to get hemorrhoid surgery on the eighth of next month.
Eighth day or day eight. No matter how you look at this word, it makes a lot of sense.
Words that count days use an exceptional reading. Even though this is a jukugo word, it uses kun'yomi readings for both the kanji. Think about this word this way:
Every eight days you have to buy yogurt to fuel your car (ようか). Your car runs on yogurt, but it needs to be refilled every eight days to keep running. It's really inconvenient because it's just ONE day more than a week. And a week just feels better. Oh well.