Telling the date in English

There are some different ways to tell the dates in English.

1. General

How to say the year

You write	You say
1900	nineteen hundred
1901	nineteen hundred (and) one
	nineteen oh-one
1995	nineteen ninety-five
2000	two thousand
	twenty hundred
2002	two thousand (and) two
	twenty oh-two
2010	two thousand (and) ten
	twenty ten

You normally split up the year in tens.

1985 is split up in 19 and 85. (You say: nineteen eighty-five).

From 2000 until 2009 the year is normally not split up.

·         2000 = two thousand

·         2001 = two thousand (and) one

The word and is often left out. From 2010 on the year is split up again.

2010 is split up in 20 and 10. (You say: twenty ten).

2. Writing and saying the date in British English

rule: day – month – year

		Day		Month	Year
You write:		1st		January,	2010
You say:	the	first	of	January	twenty ten

Note: The two letters at the end of the number and the comma are often left out.

3. Writing and saying the date in American English

rule: month – day – year

	Month		Day	Year
You write:	January		1st,	2010
You say:	January	(the)*	first	twenty ten

* The definite article ›the‹ can be left out.

4. Sample sentences and the correct prepositions:

·         I was born in 1999. (Use in with the year.)

·         I was born in August. (Use in with the month.)

·         I was born on 12th May, 2000. (Use on in the complete date.)

5. Abbreviations BC, AD, BCE, CE

Sometimes BC or AD is added after the year.

Example:

·         1060 BC (ten sixty Before Christ)

·         1060 AD (ten sixty Anno Domini) – This is Latin for in the year of the Lord.

The abbrevations BCE or CE are becoming more and more common today.

·         1060 BCE (ten sixty Before the Common/Current/Christian Era)

·         1060 CE (ten sixty Common/Current/Christian Era)

·         1060 BC = 1060 BCE

·         1060 AD = 1060 CE

6. Note

It is common to use numbers instead of months.

British English

·         13-11-2010

·         13/11/2010

·         13.11.2010

American English

·         11-13-2010

·         11/13/2010

·         11.13.2010

If you write 4/8/2011, it is the 4th August 2011 in Britain, but it is April 8th, 2011 in the USA.