Different Methods or Ways for Writting the Date in English

There are three parts to write a date. These are;

Day ( Monday, Tuesday, etc. )
Month ( January, February, etc. )
Year ( 1887, 1956, 2005, etc. )

There are different ways to write the date in English according to formal or informal writing, and also British or American English.

Writing and Saying the Date in British English

In British English, the day of the month is written first, then the month (starting with a capital letter) and then the year is written.

There are different ways to write the date. These are given listed below

Example: 11 / 06 / 1995

a) Date with Words and Numbers

Wednesday (Wed.), the eleventh of June, 1995

the eleventh of June(,) 1995

the 11th of June(,) 1995

11th June 1995

11 June 1995

11 Jun 1995

11 Jun 95

b) Date with Numbers only 

11.06.1995

11.6.95

These are all possible. The more complex the writing of the date is, the more formal it is.

Note:

While saying the date, we can add “the” and “of”.

Example: For “1st October ” — We say “(the) first (of) October”

Writing and Saying the Date in American English

In American English, the month of the date is written first, then the day and then the year is written.

There are different ways to write the date. These are given listed below

Example: For 11 / 06 / 1995

a) Date with Words and Numbers

Sunday (Sun.), November the sixth, 1995

November the sixth, 1995

November the 6th, 1995

November 6th, 1995

November 6, 1995

Nov. 2, 1995

b) Date with Numbers only

11.06.1995

11.6.95

These are all possible. The more complex the writing of the date is, the more formal it is.

Note 1:

While saying the date, we can add “the”

Example: For ” October 1st ” — We say “October (the) first”

Note 2:

1) If we write the date with words and numbers in British English, we can put a comma before the year. However, it is not necessary.

Examples: ( for 06/03/1994 )

the sixth of March, 1994 ( correct )

the sixth of March 1994 ( correct )

If we write the date with words and numbers in American English, we should use a comma to separate the day and the year.


Examples: ( for 09/10/1999 )

September the tenth, 1999 ( correct )

September the tenth 1999 ( wrong )

2) If we use “the” article with the date in British English, we must use “of” also, or vice versa. We can not separate them each other.

Examples: ( for 15/10/2015 )

the 15th of October (,) 2015 ( correct )

15th October 2015 ( correct )

the 15th October 2015 ( wrong )

15th of October 2015 ( wrong )

3) If we want to add the name of the day into the date in British English, we should put “the day’s name” before the date, separating by a comma or we should combine “the day’s name” with “the…of…” without a comma.

Examples: ( for 23/07/2005 – Sunday )

Sunday, 23 July 2005 ( correct )

Sunday the 23rd of July (,) 2005 ( correct )

If we want to add the name of the day into the date in American English, we should put “the day’s name” before the date, separating by a comma.

Examples: ( for 08/06/1800- Wednesday )

Wednesday, August 6, 1800 ( correct )

Wednesday August 6, 1800 ( wrong )

4) If we want to write the date with numbers only in British and American English, we should separate the date’s numbers with slashes, hyphens or dots.

Examples: ( for 19/05/2017 in British English – DD/MM/YYYY)

19/05/2017

19–05–2017

19.05.2017

Examples: ( for 04/10/2018 in American English – MM/DD/YYYY)

04/10/2018

04–10–2018

04.10.2018

5)Prepositions with dates;

For days and specific dates which include specific day(s) in a month, we use “on” as a preposition before the date.


Examples:

on March 1

on 8 January

on 10th October 2017

on 5th April

For years and months (not including specific day(s)), we use “in” as a preposition before the date.

Examples:

in 2017

in 1980

in July

DAYS OF THE MONTH

The Days in Figures - The Days in Words

1st - the first
2nd- the second
3rd- the third
4th- the fourth
5th- the fifth
6th- the sixth
7th- the seventh
8th- the eighth
9th- the ninth
10th- the tenth
11th- the eleventh
12th- the twelfth
13th- the thirteenth
14th- the fourteenth
15th- the fifteenth
16th- the sixteenth
17th- the seventeenth
18th- the eighteenth
19th- the nineteenth
20th- the twentieth
21st -the twenty-first
22nd- the twenty- second
23rd- the twenty -third
24th- the twenty -fourth
25th- the twenty-fifth
26th- the twenty-sixth
27th- the twenty-seventh
28th- the twenty-eighth
29th- the twenty-ninth
30th- the thirtieth
31st- the thirty-first

YEARS

Writting Year, Saying the Year

1900 nineteen hundred

1905 nineteen hundred (and) five or nineteen oh five

1956 nineteen fifty-six

2000 twenty hundred or two thousand or the year two thousand

2008 twenty oh eight or two thousand (and) eight

2017 twenty seventeen or two thousand (and) seventeen

Note:

1) We divide the year into two parts

Example:

1950 is divided into 19 and 50. (We say “nineteen fifty”).

2) From 2000 until 2009, we do not divide the year into two parts.

Examples:

2000 ( We say “two thousand” )

2005 ( We say “two thousand (and) five” )

3) For 2010 and the later years, we divide the year into two parts again.

Example:

2010 is divided into 20 and 10. (We say “twenty ten”).