day date month years

Dates

from English Grammar Today

Writing the date

We write the date in English in different ways. The most common way in British English is to write the day of the month first, then the month (starting with a capital letter) and then the year:

20 January 1993

14 November 2005

We can also write the date in numbers only:

20 January 1993 = 20/1/1993

14 November 2005 = 14–11–2005 or 14.11.05

Sometimes the last two letters of the number as spoken can be used (th, rd, st, nd):

Today is the 7th September.

The grand opening is on 1st June. or … on June 1st.

With the exception of May and June, months can be shortened as follows:

Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Jul, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec.

Dates in American English

In written American English, the month of the date comes before the day and year. For example, Independence Day in the USA is on July 4th each year. In the year 2000 the date was 4/7/2000 in British English. In American English this is written 7/4/2000.

See also:

·         British and American English

Speaking the date

We ask the date or about dates in several ways. We can add the and of when we reply:

What date did they get married?

A:

What date is it?

B:

It’s the first of June. (1st June)

A:

What’s the date today?

B:

It’s June the first. (June 1st)

A:

What’s today’s date?

B:

Fifteenth of April. (15th April)

We talk about years like this:

Before the year 2000

1492: fourteen ninety-two

1700: seventeen hundred

1801: eighteen hundred and one or eighteen oh /əʊ/ one

1908: nineteen oh eight

After the year 2000

2000: two thousand

2003: two thousand and three or twenty oh three

2012: two thousand and twelve or twenty twelve

Typical error

·         Make sure you use the correct abbreviated form:

My birthday is the 28th of January.

Not: … the 28st …

1. General

How to say the year

You write	You say
1900	nineteen hundred
1901	nineteen hundred (and) one
	nineteen oh-one
1995	nineteen ninety-five
2000	two thousand
	twenty hundred
2002	two thousand (and) two
	twenty oh-two
2010	two thousand (and) ten
	twenty ten

You normally split up the year in tens.

1985 is split up in 19 and 85. (You say: nineteen eighty-five).

From 2000 until 2009 the year is normally not split up.

• 2000 = two thousand
• 2001 = two thousand (and) one

The word and is often left out. From 2010 on the year is split up again.

2010 is split up in 20 and 10. (You say: twenty ten).

2. Writing and saying the date in British English

rule: day – month – year

		Day		Month	Year
You write:		1st		January,	2010
You say:	the	first	of	January	twenty ten

Note: The two letters at the end of the number and the comma are often left out.

3. Writing and saying the date in American English

rule: month – day – year

	Month		Day	Year
You write:	January		1st,	2010
You say:	January	(the)*	first	twenty ten

* The definite article ›the‹ can be left out.

4. Sample sentences and the correct prepositions:

• I was born in 1999. (Use in with the year.)
• I was born in August. (Use in with the month.)
• I was born on 12th May, 2000. (Use on in the complete date.)

5. Abbreviations BC, AD, BCE, CE

Sometimes BC or AD is added after the year.

Example:

• 1060 BC (ten sixty Before Christ)
• 1060 AD (ten sixty Anno Domini) – This is Latin for in the year of the Lord.

The abbrevations BCE or CE are becoming more and more common today.

• 1060 BCE (ten sixty Before the Common/Current/Christian Era)
• 1060 CE (ten sixty Common/Current/Christian Era)

• 1060 BC = 1060 BCE
• 1060 AD = 1060 CE

6. Note

It is common to use numbers instead of months.

British English

• 13-11-2010
• 13/11/2010
• 13.11.2010

American English

• 11-13-2010
• 11/13/2010
• 11.13.2010

If you write 4/8/2011, it is the 4th August 2011 in Britain, but it is April 8th, 2011 in the USA.

How to write dates in British and American English

Calendar dates can be written in a wide variety of ways in English, and often depend on formal or informal writing, personal style and whether you are writing British or American English. Whatever the format, in British English, dates are usually written in the order day – month – year , while in American English they are written month – day – year. Here are some common ways to write dates for each:

Writing Dates in British English

For British English,  day followed by month followed by year, the 13th day of the month April, year 2014, might be written in full (in order of complexity):

§  13 April

§  13 April 2014

§  13th April 2014

§  the 13th of April 2014

§  the 13th of April, 2014,

These are all possible, and a matter of choice. The more complicated the style of date, the more formal it is.

In the later examples, the and of are optional, but if you do use them you must add both the and of; it would be incorrect to say only 13th of April or the 13th April.

In British English, commas are not necessary (although can be used to separate month an year, as a matter of style).

If you wish to add the name of the day, it should come before the date, and should either be separated by a comma or joined by the and of.

§  Sunday, 13 April 2014

§  Sunday the 13th of April, 2014

Writing Dates in American English

In American English, the month comes before the day, which means you cannot use of and rarely use ordinal numbers (adding st, nd, rd, th). Commas should also be used to separate the day and year, and again the name of the day should come at the beginning. The date should therefore be written:

§  April 13

§  April 13, 2014

§  Sunday, April 13, 2014

April the 13^th or April 13^th are not incorrect, but are much less common now.

Numerical date formats

In both British and American English, the date can be written in abbreviated forms, either as a group of numbers (separated by hyphens, slashes or periods), or with the first few letters of the month. The date should be in day – month – year or month – day – year format depending on British or American use.

         British Abbreviated Dates

§  13/04/14, 13.04.14, 13-04-14

§  13/04/2014, 13.04.2014, 13-04-2014

§  13Apr2014, 13-Apr-14

         American Abbreviated Dates

§  04/13/14, 04.13.14, 04-13-14

§  04/13/2014, 04.13.2014, 04-13-2014

§  Apr. 13, 2014

§  Year before month

In some circumstances, you may find the year comes before the month, then the day (a reverse of the standard British format). This is not common in English speaking countries, except in some technical texts.

Which style to choose?

Choosing which style you write the date in depends on how formal you wish the document to be, and how much space you have. However, there are only two things that are really important, whichever style you choose:

1.     Write the date in the correct format for that style

2.     Be consistent

Do not use different styles within the same document, unless you have a good reason to.