Writing the Date Properly

How should a date be written in English? Whether you're using the British or American date format, or writing a formal letter or a casual note, will determine how you go about doing this. The following examples demonstrate the variety of formats in which the same date can be presented. As a rule of thumb, a more intricate date format indicates a more formal occasion.  

Australians typically speak a variant of British English, so the order of the day, month, and year is as follows: The following are possible (and increasingly difficult) transcriptions for the date September 6th, 2019:

• 6 Sept

• The 6th of September.

• Monday, September 6, 2019

• Sunday, September 6, 2019

• Sunday, September 6, 2019

• on September 6th, 2019

Both of the latter date formats are considered more formal. The articles "the" and "of" are not required, but must be included if used. It's not right to say "September 6th" or "the 6th of September." ” 

In British English, commas before the year are optional, but they can be used if desired.  

The name of the day should be included before the date, preceded by a comma or the words "the" and "of." ” 

• Currently (2019-04-13) Saturday

• Time: Saturday, April 13, 2019

This is the British English format for abbreviating the date. Once more, the day comes first, then the month, and finally the year.  

• 6/9/19 or 6 9 19 or 6-9-19

• 06/09/2019 or 06 09 2019 or 06-09-2019 

• September 9th, 2019 or September 6th, 2019

The forward slash (/) is the most typical delimiter for all-numerical date formats. Still, a hyphen (-) or period (.) can be used instead. )  

In American English, the month comes first, then the day, and finally the year when writing out a date. To reiterate, the correct way to write the date in American English is as follows, assuming the date is the sixth of September in the year 2019.

• Sept 6 

• The 6th of September

• Friday, September 6, 2019

• September 6, 2019 being a Monday

April 13th and April 13th are both acceptable date formats, though the former is more common in British English than the latter in American English.  

Using the following format, you can express the date in American English using only numerals. Just like in regular calendars, the month comes first, followed by the day, and finally the year.  

• 04/13/19 or 04 13 19 or 04-13-19

• 04/13/2019 or 04 13 2019 or 04-13-2019

• Apr 13, 2019

An International Standard was created to reduce the likelihood of misunderstandings between those who use the British date format and those who use the American date format. Who is correct if one person writes "03/02/2019" for February 3, 2019 and another writes "02/03/2019"? The recommended format for a date is YYYY-MM-DD, which stands for "year," "month," and "day." In other words, if both Australians and Americans used this, the date would be written as 02/03/2019.  

By putting the year at the beginning of the date, ambiguity is eliminated. The format is widely used across Asia when recording dates. Take, as an illustration:

The date January 1, 2018 would be formatted as January 1, 2018. Not using a comma there, did you notice? )  

Regardless of the chosen style, dates are typically written as follows in British English: day, month, year, and in American English: month, day, year. Both date formats are acceptable on the IELTS.

There is no difference between American English and British English spelling on the IELTS. Acceptable in either case You should be aware of the tone of your letter, however, as composing an informal email to a friend and a formal business letter to an employer require very different approaches. Date formats should be consistent with the formality of the letter. Use of contractions (such as cannot for "I cannot") is frowned upon in formal writing. Use a formal datestyle if the IELTS Writing task instructs you to begin your letter with "Dear Sir or Madam" (signifying it is a formal letter).  

• Unless otherwise specified, the following months may be abbreviated in your IELTS writing: January, February, March, April, July, August, September/October, November, and December.  

Never leave out the year when writing in formal American or British English (e. g Twenty-First of November) Avoid writing the date as a string of numbers (e.g. g 20/11/2019 or 11/20/2019) If you're composing a formal business letter, for instance, you should use the full month name and date format. The date "6th September 2019" could be written in British English. The date September 6, 2019 could be used in American English.  

• Tip for the IELTS: Capitalize the first letter of each month.  

Informal dates in writing

It's acceptable to use a more abbreviated date format if the task at hand calls for a less formal response, such as a letter to a friend. Instead of writing out the month's name, only numbers separated by periods or slashes are used. It's also fine to cut months or even the entire year short, as in the following examples:

If you need to save space, you can also write out the date but omit the month:

• We are now in the month of December, so the date is written as "8 Dec 2019."

• Day 7 of October / 7 Oct

Get in touch with experts and receive coaching to raise your IELTS Writing score if you are unsure of your abilities.

The first thing you should remember for the listening test is that there are word limits. Answers with more than two words will receive no credit, regardless of how many of those words are correct, if the question specifies that you should use only two words.  

Always keep in mind that there are multiple acceptable date-writing conventions (e.g. g The 24th of April (or simply April 24) is also acceptable.  

Another helpful hint: you can use numerical formats for dates like 19/02 or 02/19 (for 19 February) on the IELTS Listening test. This prevents misspelled answers and satisfies requirements of single-word queries.  

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It's not always the same way to write a date as it is to say it in English. Dates are always ordinal numbers in spoken English. Ordinal numbersSequence or rank is indicated by ordinal numbers. For larger numbers, a th is appended to the end. As an illustration, consider the expressions 44th and 22nd.  

A normal (cardinal) number can be written in English without the "th" or "st" etc., as you have seen before. after it In spoken English, the ordinal number is always spoken, even if it is never written. In written American English, the -th is rarely used after a numeral.  

• Speaking exam strategy: rehearse pronouncing numbers so that your meaning is crystal clear. Many numbers, such as e, for example, can sound very similar when spoken; therefore, it's important to pronounce them precisely. g 30 and 13, 40 and 14, 50 and 15, etc.  

Here are some examples of how to say the date in English for the IELTS Speaking Exam.

'March 30th, 1993' or 'March 30th, 1993' in American English

March 30th, 1993 (or "the thirtieth of March, 1993" in British English)

December 1st, 2017 in American English. Also written as "December 1st, 2017"

First of December, twenty-seventeen (in British English)

What is the English equivalent of "years"?  

This is the proper English way to say the year when referring to a specific year:

• To put it simply, 1100 means "eleven hundred."

• Thirteen 'oh' nine is the same as thirteen hundred and nine.

• The year 1678 can be written as "sixteen seventy-eight."

• The year 1910 can be written as "nineteen ten."

• In English, the year 1946 is written as "nineteen (hundred and)forty-six."

• Two thousand (2000 ) means

• Two thousand seven, or twenty-oh-seven, is the official name for 2007.

• The year 2019 can be written as either "two thousand and nineteen" or "twenty-nineteen."

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