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- How to Write Dates in English: Formats and Rules
Reading and writing dates in English can be confusing, especially for non-native speakers. Inside, you will find information about different formats, along with the essential rules to follow.
Beginner
CONTENT
- Most Common Date Formats in English
- The Difference Between American and British Date Formats
- How to Write the Month and Day
- How to Write the Year
- How to Write Centuries
- How to Write Dates with Days of the Week
- Rules for Writing Dates in English: An Overview
- Conclusion
Some things are so deeply ingrained in our lives we barely notice them, although we see and use them every day. One of such things are dates – we see them every time we look at our smartphones, we use them for making plans or for writing invitations for special occasions. But have you ever paid attention to the date format you use?
When it comes to writing dates in English, there are a few things you need to know. For instance, while there is one commonly used date format, there are also separate rules on how to write the year, the month, and day, and even centuries.
In this article, we will cover all of these topics and provide you with writing tips to write dates correctly in English and avoid misunderstandings with your English-speaking friends or colleagues. Let’s get started!
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Bullet Points:
- The most common way for writing dates in English is to use day/month/year format.
- American English speakers use the month/day/year format.
- Another way to write the date in English is to add the day of the week first, followed by the day and then the month.
- You can also use the international standard for writing dates in English – write the year first, followed by the month and then the day.
- In both American and British English, you can abbreviate the name of the month.
- When writing dates with days of the week, use the following order: the day of the week, month, day, year.
Most Common Date Formats in English
The most common way for writing dates in English is to use day/month/year format (also denoted as DD/MM/YYYY). For example, if you were writing the date for the fifth of January , 2022, you would write it as 05/01/22.
However, there are also other ways to write dates in the English language. Americans use the month/day/year format – again, in a purely numerical form. This way, the same date, January fifth, would be written as 01/05/2022.
Another way to write the date in English is to add the day of the week first, followed by the day and then the month. So, the same date would be written as Friday, 5 January 2022.
And finally, you can use the international standard for writing dates in English – write the year first, followed by the month and then the day (also known as YYYY/MM/DD format). This way, the same date would be written as 2022/01/05.
Note that the numerical format of date writing is generally used informally or when there’s limited space. If you choose the all-numeric date format, there are always two slashes or hyphens to separate the parts of the date – one between the day and month, and another one between the month and year.
The Difference Between American and British Date Formats
The two most commonly used date formats come from British and American English. The British English date format is day/month/year, while the month/day/year format occurs in American usage.
In the American English date format, the month is written as a word (January, March, November, etc.), followed by the day of the month and then the year. The year can be written with two digit numbers (22 for 2022) or four (2022). When writing a date with a day of the week, the order is: day of the week, month, day, year. For example:
- Tuesday, January 5, 2022.
The British English date format is nearly the same, but the day is written first, followed by the full month (e.g. September, April, June) and then the year. However, no comma is necessary in a date in British English. For example:
- Tuesday, 5 January 2022.
As such, the main difference between British and American English date formats is that an American writes the month before the day, while the British date format puts the day before the month.
Now let’s take a closer look at how to write each part of an entire date:
How to Write the Month and Day
You can write the month with either two digits or spell it out in full, both forms are correct. Using a number to indicate the month is the most common, and it is generally written in informal situations. The full name of the month should be used in formal writing, such as a business letter, a resume, or a legal document.
In both British and American forms, the name of the month can be abbreviated if it’s a part of a specific date. In order to abbreviate the month, you should write its first three letters, followed by a period. The only exceptions are May, June, and July. For example:
- BrEn: 5 Jan. 2022.
- AmEn: Jan. 5, 2022.
However, it is recommended to avoid abbreviations in formal writing unless they’re used to save space like in tables or on charts.
When it comes to the day of the month, ordinal numbers (e.g. 1st, 2nd, 3rd) are usually omitted in American formal writing, although they are frequently used in speech. Similarly, in British usage, it would be best to use a cardinal number (e.g. 1, 2, 3) when writing the date in formal situations.
How to Write the Year
In both the American and British date formats, the year can be written with either two or four digits. The two-digit year is the most common form, and it is generally used in informal writing. The four-digit year is used when writing formal documents or in business correspondence – for example, a formal business letter or a contract agreement.
Note that if the year is placed at the beginning of a sentence, it should be written out as words. For example:
- Two thousand twenty was an uneventful year due to the pandemic.
How to Write Centuries
Centuries can be written in different ways, too. You can use an ordinal number as an abbreviation (18th) or the full form followed by the word "century" (the eighteenth century), you can also write it with numbers (the 1800s) Note that you don’t need to use an apostrophe after writing numbers, as centuries are plurals, not possessives.
How to Write Dates with Days of the Week
When writing dates with days of the week, use the following order: the day of the week, month, day, year. To make the long-form date easier to read, use a comma after the day of the week. Here are the examples:
- BrEn: Monday, 5 January 2022.
- AmEn: Monday, January 5, 2022.
Rules for Writing Dates in English: An Overview
As you can see, there are several different date formats in the English language, each one with its own nuances and recommended usage. While all of them are perfectly acceptable, remember to stick to the same format in your writing to make it look unified and professional.
When in doubt, remember that the British format of writing day/month/year is the most commonly used format outside of the US. In order not to get confused by so many rules, here are several key of them you need to keep in mind every time you write the date in English:
- When writing the year, you can either write the full four digits (2022) or just the last two digits (22).
- When writing the month, you can either write the full name (January) or its abbreviated form (Jan).
- When writing the day, you can either write the ordinal number (1st) or just the numeral (1).
- When writing centuries, you can either write the full word (the seventeenth century) or write numbers (17th or 1700s).
- When writing dates with days of the week, you should separate them by a comma.
Conclusion
Now you know the basics of how to write dates in English. Americans use the format of month/day/year, but there are other ways to write dates as well. If you’re traveling or doing business in other countries, it’s important to be aware of the date format they use. When in doubt, stick to the international standard in order to avoid confusion.
The most important thing to remember when writing dates is to be consistent. Once you’ve chosen a format, use the same format throughout your document. This will make it easier for your reader to understand and follow along. With a little practice, you’ll be writing dates like a pro in no time.
You should also consider downloading our Langster app, which is full of bite-sized stories that will allow you to see various date formats in different contexts and read them correctly. Good luck!
FAQs
What is the correct date format in English? ›
The international standard recommends writing the date as year, then month, then the day: YYYY-MM-DD.
What is the proper date format in Canada? ›For an all-numerical date format, use year-month-day, as recommended by the Government of Canada, the Standards Council of Canada and ISO 8601. This format is intended particularly for electronic formats that sort by date; all-numerical date formats should not be used in running text.
How do you format dates in legal writing? ›Dates are formatted YYYY MM DD (basic format) or YYYY - MM - DD (extended format). The basic format (without hyphens) is appropriate when computer readability and storage space are of primary importance, and the extended format (with hyphens) when the document is intended for general readers.
Is it August 21st or 21th? ›As you can see, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd use -st, -nd, and -rd, but 4th-20th use -th. Follow this pattern for the numbers moving forward: 21st, 31st, 41st, etc. all use -st like 1st.
What is standard date format? ›where YYYY is the year in the usual Gregorian calendar, MM is the month of the year between 01 (January) and 12 (December), and DD is the day of the month between 01 and 31. Other commonly used notations are e.g. 2/4/95, 4/2/95, 95/2/4, 4.2.1995, 04-FEB-1995, 4-February-1995, and many more.
What are the most common date formats? ›Most of the World Uses the Day, Month, Year Format
The vast majority of the world uses the format: day, then month, then year. Using the example above, 1/10/2022 would stand for the 1st of October, 2022.
dd/MM/yyyy — Example: 23/06/2013. yyyy/M/d — Example: 2013/6/23.
Which countries use dd MM yyyy? ›Basic group behaviour shows it's weird. Despite the variety of date formats used around world, the US is the only country to insist on using mm-dd-yyyy.
How do you format dates in British English? ›Date and time notation in the United Kingdom records the date using the day–month–year format (31 December 1999, 31/12/99 or 31/12/1999).
Do you need a comma after a date in a sentence? ›In the day-month-year style, do not use commas: School started on 4 September 2018. In the month-day-year style, use a comma to set off the day and—when more information follows—the year: School started on September 4, 2018.
Is it mm/dd/yyyy or MM YYYY Canada? ›
The YYYY - MM - DD format is the only method of writing a numeric date in Canada that allows unambiguous interpretation, and the only officially recommended format. The presence of the DD / MM / YY (most of the world) and MM / DD / YY (American) formats often results in misinterpretation.
Is it correct to write 21st? ›twenty-first = 21st (It's her 21st on Sunday.) Remember, no space between hyphen and words. Spelling rules with whole numbers - 20th, 30th, 40th...
How do you write 21 in dates? ›| days of the month | |
|---|---|
| 21st | twenty-first |
| 22nd | twenty-second |
| 23rd | twenty-third |
| 24th | twenty-fourth |
While there isn't a truly universal format understood by everyone in the world, but you can achieve at least a widely understood, unambiguous, and sortable format that might be acceptable for many use cases: yyyy-MM-dd . Broken down: yyyy provides an unambiguous 4-digit year. MM provides a two-digit month number.
How to read dates in 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.
How do you write a date with an apostrophe? ›When to use an apostrophe for dates depends on how you want to write the date. Don't add an apostrophe “s” to the end of the whole number. Instead, for abbreviated dates, put the apostrophe in the front. So both “Big hair was popular in the 1980s” and “Big hair was popular in the '80s” are correct.
What is the international date format? ›The ISO standard takes a general-to-specific approach for its date formats: The year comes first, followed by the month and then by the day of the month, with most elements represented as numerical values. For example, the ISO representation for July 15, 2022 is either 20220715 or 2022-07-15.
What are the types of formatting you can do with date values? ›This includes: (1) the standard format for dates and times (YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS:mmm, with the time in 24-hour format); (2) MM/DD/YYYY, the format used in the database; (3) the default formats set up by Eloqua (as long as they are not modified or deleted by the Customer Administrator); or (4) any of the additional ...
How do you format a date with the day of the week? ›Format cells to show dates as the day of the week
Under Category, click Custom, and in the Type box, type dddd for the full name of the day of the week (Monday, Tuesday, and so on), or ddd for the abbreviated name of the day of the week (Mon, Tue, Wed, and so on).
- Select the dates whose format your want to change, or empty cells where you want to insert dates.
- Press Ctrl+1 to open the Format Cells dialog. ...
- In the Format Cells window, switch to the Number tab, and select Date in the Category list.
- Under Type, pick a desired date format.
How to change date format from MM DD YYYY to DD MM YYYY in Windows 10? ›
- Go to Clock and Region and click on “Change date, time or number formats”
- Then change your Short date format to the format you want that contains yyyy, MM and dd.
The date format for all Google documents is linked to the Language setting of your profile, go to your Google Account, select Data and Personalisation, then scroll down and click Language (under General Preferences for the Web), changing it from US English to English Australian changes the date format.
What is YYYY MM DD date format called? ›| Format | Description |
|---|---|
| YYYY-MM-DD | Four-digit year, separator, two-digit month, separator, two-digit day (example: 2002-02-02) |
| YYYY-MM | Four-digit year, separator, two-digit month (example: 2002-02) |
| YYYY | Four-digit year (example: 2002) |
| --MM-DD | Two dashes, two-digit month, separator, two-digit day (example: - -12-02) |
Using the European Date Format
In European countries and most other places in the world, the day comes first, then the month, and then the year. The fourth day in January would be written like this: 4 January 2005. 4/1/05.
If only the month and year are used, do not use commas. Do not use the word "of" between the month and the year. Use: We met in December 2011 (not December of 2011). Appositives and phrases introduced by a comma must always be closed by a comma (or period at the end of a sentence).
How do you write multiple dates in a sentence? ›I would write it as "August 4–5," because the presentation is taking place on two consecutive days. (Nobody assumes it's a 48-hour presentation.) I would use "and" if the dates are not contiguous: "The concerts will be held on August 4 and 6."
Does a comma go before or after but? ›While a comma is needed before “but” when it's being used to connect two independent clauses, no comma is needed before “but” if it's connecting an independent clause and a sentence fragment.
How do I change the date format from mm/dd/yyyy to mm/dd/yyyy in Java? ›Format date with SimpleDateFormat('MM/dd/yy') in Java
// displaying date Format f = new SimpleDateFormat("MM/dd/yy"); String strDate = f. format(new Date()); System. out. println("Current Date = "+strDate);
all use -st like 1st. 22nd, 32nd, 42nd, etc. all use -nd like 2nd.
Is it 30th or 30st? ›Even though it is written as May 30, you say, “May thirtieth” (30th). So when you are reading a date that is written May 30, 1975, you say “May thirtieth, nineteen seventy-five.” That's probably why a lot of people get confused about how to write it.
Is it 11th or 11st? ›
LIST(11, 12, 13) defines the list of numbers that are exception to the ordinal naming rules (e.g., 11 is 11th, not 11st; 12 is 12th, not 12nd). "th" is the suffix given to exception days.
What is the best date format? ›In more formal, international contexts yyyy-mm-dd is the preferred allowed format.
How do you write 21 to 30 in English? ›For example, (21) twenty-one, (22) twenty-two, (23) twenty-three, (24) twenty-four, (25) twenty-five, (26) twenty-six, (27) twenty-seven, (28) twenty-eight, (29) twenty-nine, (30) thirty.
How do you write the date 12 in English? ›So 1/12/2021 is January 12th, 2021. And notice how the date is written: 12th. If you say this date out loud you'll say: “January twelfth, twenty twenty-one.”
How do you write the date 22 in English? ›The year can be written with two digit numbers (22 for 2022) or four (2022). When writing a date with a day of the week, the order is: day of the week, month, day, year. For example: Tuesday, January 5, 2022.
Do you put a comma after a date in a sentence? ›In the day-month-year style, do not use commas: School started on 4 September 2018. In the month-day-year style, use a comma to set off the day and—when more information follows—the year: School started on September 4, 2018.
Is it 1st January or January 1st? ›When you're writing out a date like January 1, 2023 (in the American style), the day is written as a cardinal number. So you should never write January 1st, 2023. The weird thing though is when you're speaking, even though it is written as January 1, you say, “January first” (1).
How do you write the 12th date in English? ›So 1/12/2021 is January 12th, 2021. And notice how the date is written: 12th. If you say this date out loud you'll say: “January twelfth, twenty twenty-one.”
How do you say year 2010 in English? ›2010—two thousand and ten/twenty ten.