Telling the Date in English


In American English


If you want to be formal, you write the month and the day, and then you add the year in numerical format.

For example: May the twentieth, 1981

A less formal way of writing the date is writing only the month and then adding the day and the year in numerical format.
For example: May 20th, 1981

The least formal way of writing the date is using all numerical formats.

05/20/1981

Note: you can use a dot (.) or a hyphen (-) instead of a slash (/).

For example: 05.20.1981 or 05-20-1981

See Read write dates in US format Exercise


In British English


The only difference between American and British English in writing the date is actually the order of the month and the day. In American English month comes first, however; in British English day comes first.


American EnglishBritish English
05/20/1981
05-22-1986
20/05/1981
22-05-1986
May the twentieth, 1981
May the twenty-second, 1986
the twentieth of May, 1981
the twenty-second of May, 1986

Note: In both American and British English months are written with an initial capital.

For example: May, June, July


See Read write dates in UK format Exercise

Also See:

How to Say the Date Exercise in US or UK Format

GrammarBank Video Exercises
GrammarBank YouTube Channel



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