The date format in British English
In British English, which is the type of English mainly used in Australia, the day is followed by the month, which is then followed by the year. The 6th day of the month September, in the year 2019, might be written in full (in order of complexity):
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.
Example: 6(th) (of) September (,) 2019
6 Sept
6 September
6 September 2019
6th September 2019
the 6th of September 2019
the 6th of September, 2019
The last two date formats are more formal. The “the” and “of” are optional but if you do use them, you must add both “the” and “of.” It is incorrect to say only “6th of September” or “the 6th September.”
As for the year, commas are not necessary when you write the date in British English, but you can if you prefer this style.
If you wish to add the name of the day, it should come before the date, and should either be separated by a comma or joined by “the” and “of.” dd/mm/yyyy
Saturday, 13 April 2019
Saturday the 13th of April, 2019
The date format in American English
When you prefer to write the date in American English, usually the month comes before the day, followed by the year. If we use the same example as before: The 6th day of the month September, in the year 2019, then the date in American English should be written as:
Sept 6
September 6
September 6, 2019
Monday, September 6, 2019
Dates written as April the 13th or April 13th are not incorrect, but are less common in 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
How to write the date in numbers?
In American English, if you want to write the date in all-numeric, you will need to use the following style. Here, too, the month comes first, then the day, then the year. mm/dd/yyyy
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
Other date formats
The International Standard
In an effort to avoid miscommunication between people using the British date format and those using the American date format, an International Standard was developed. If an Australian writes February 3, 2019 as 03/02/2019, but an American writes the same date as 02/03/2019, who’s right? The international standard recommends writing the date as year, then month, then the day: YYYY-MM-DD. So if both Australians and Americans used this, they would both write the date as 2019-02-03.
Writing the date this way avoids confusion by placing the year first. Much of Asia uses this form when writing the date. For example:
January 1, 2018 would be written as 2018 January 1. (Did you notice there’s no comma?).
The correct date format for Listening
The first tip for your listening test: Be careful to note word limits. If there is an instruction in the question: “Write no more than two words,” writing more than two words will mean you will receive no marks at all for your answer, even if some of the words are correct.
When you are writing dates as an answer to any question, remember that there are several correct ways to write them (e.g. 24th April, April 24 and 24 April are all correct).
A second tip: When writing the date in the IELTS Listening test, you can write dates as numbers such as 19/02 or 02/19 (for 19 February). This eliminates spelling mistakes and complies with questions that only allow 1-word answers.
The correct date format for Speaking
Saying a date in English is sometimes different from how you would write the date. In spoken English, we always use ordinal numbers for dates. Ordinal numbersexternal icon are numbers that show the order or sequence. Normally a “th” appears at the end of the number. For example, four → fourth (or 4 → 4th) and two → second (or 2 → 2nd).
As you’ve seen before, in written English you may write a normal (cardinal) number without the “th” or “st” etc. after it. Even if it is not written, the ordinal number is still said in spoken English. In American English, it is not common to put the -th after the number in written English.
Speaking test tip: Practise the pronunciation of numbers to be sure that your meaning is clear. For example, many numbers can sound very similar when spoken, so be sure to say them clearly, e.g. ‘Thirty’ and ‘Thirteen’, ‘Forty’ and ‘Fourteen’, ‘Fifty’ and ‘Fifteen’, etc.
Let’s have a look at how you can say the date correctly
30 March 1993
American English: ‘March the thirtieth, nineteen ninety-three’ or ‘March thirtieth, nineteen ninety-three’
British English: ‘the thirtieth of March, nineteen ninety-three’
1 December 2017
American English: ‘December the first, twenty seventeen’ or ‘December first, two thousand and seventeen’
British English: ‘the first of December, twenty seventeen’
How do you say years in English?
When you are talking about years, this is how you would say the year correctly in English:
1100 = ‘eleven hundred’
1309 = ‘thirteen hundred and nine’ or ‘thirteen ‘oh’ nine’
1678 = ‘sixteen (hundred and) seventy-eight’
1910 = ‘nineteen (hundred and) ten’
1946 = ‘nineteen (hundred and) forty-six’
2000 = ‘two thousand’
2007 = ‘two thousand and seven’ or ‘twenty ‘oh’ seven’
2019 = ‘two thousand and nineteen’ or ‘twenty nineteen’
Read and write the dates in American English Format
- 05/20/1981 May the twentieth, 1981
2. 05/22/1986
3. 09/23/2012
4. 10/01/1995
5. 01.02.2002
6. 03/10/1970
7. 06/16/2010
8. 11/15/2014
9. 12/24/2000
10. 02/17/2020
Convert the above dates into UK English Format in all-numeric.
Read and write the following dates in UK English Format
1. 20/05/1981
The twentieth of May, 1981
2. 22/05/1986
3. 23/09/2012
4. 01/10/1995
5. 02/01/2002
6. 10/03/1970
7. 16/06/2010
8. 15/11/2014
9. 24/12/2000
10. 17/02/2020
Convert the above dates in American English Format in all-numeric.