English Dates

English Dates



a) Dates in Written English

British English


In British English the day is usually put before the month. If you wish, you can add the ending of the ordinal number. The preposition of before the month is usually dropped. You can put a comma before the year, but this is not common anymore in British English. It is common, however, if the date is part of a sentence: The conference takes place 10-12 December, 2003.(i)

Example: 5(th) (of) October(,) 2004



American English


In American English the month is usually put before the
day. If you wish, you can put the definite article before the day. It is common to write a comma before the year.

Example: October (the) 5(th), 2004

You can also write the date by using numbers only. The most common forms are:

Example: 5/10/04 or 5-10-04

Note, however, that 5/10/04 usually means 5 October 2004 in British English and May 10, 2004 in American English. To avoid any possible confusion, you should spell out the month or use the abbreviation.

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b) Months and Days of the Week

Note that the months and days of the week are always capitalised. If you don't want to write the whole words, you can use the abbreviations. In British English, abbreviations are usually written without full stops (Apr), full stops are normal, however, in American English (Apr.).


Months are abbreviated as follows:


January > Jan

February > Feb

March > Mar

April > Apr

May > ----

June > ----

July > ----

August > Aug

September > Sept

October > Oct

November > Nov

December > Dec



Days of the week are abbreviated as follows:


Monday > Mon

Tuesday > Tue

Wednesday > Wed

Thursday >Thu

Friday > Fri

Saturday > Sat

Sunday > Sun

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c) Dates in Spoken English

If you put the day before the month, use the definite article before the day and the preposition of before the month.

5 October 2004 - the fifth of October, two thousand and four

If you put the month before the day, use the definite article before the day in British English. In American English, the definite article can be dropped.

October 5, 2004 - October (the) fifth, two thousand and four

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d) Years

From 2000 onwards, years are pronounced like ordinary cardinal numbers.

2000 - two thousand
2003 - two thousand and three

Earlier years are pronounced differently: the first two figures are a number and the last two figures are a number. They can be joined by hundred and, which is only necessary, however, if the last two figures are 00 through 09.

1999 - nineteen (hundred and) ninety-nine
1806 - eighteen hundred and six / eighteen oh six

If you want to give the year without an exact date, use the preposition in:

I was born in 1972.

To distinguish between dates before and after the birth of Christ, use BC and AD:

BC = 'Before Christ'

AD = 'Anno Domini' in the year of the Lord