How to write and say dates
Welcome again to the Art of Business English podcast. This week I have a very practical lesson for those of you who are still learning some of the fundamentals of the English language. With that being said, knowing how to correctly say and write dates in English is a critical skill for doing business.
I am sure you will agree that dates play a vital role in everyday business and if you mess up dates or write them incorrectly, then this can lead to some very serious consequences, such as delays and late deliveries.
With this in mind, today I am going to give you a quick lesson on how you can write and say dates correctly. Even if you have an advanced level of English I am sure there are some little gems in here today.
I have divided the episode into several parts, firstly we will look at years, then dates and then centuries. I am also going to give you some useful language on asking for and telling the date.
Let’s jump right in.
How to say the year
Until the year 2000, every year was pronounced as two numbers:
For the first years of previous centuries, we add “o” which means 0:
For the first ten years of the 21st century, we use the word thousand:
From the year 2010 onwards, you can say two numbers again:
Or you can still use thousand and say
How to say the date
When we say dates in English, we use ordinal numbers. So, for September 1, we say first. We also say the before the number followed by of:
In American English, it’s also possible to invert the month and day:
For written dates, the following rule is used:
British English: Day + Month + Year
For written dates, the following rule is used:
American English: Month + Day + Year
Tip: In English, months and days always start with capital letters.
may → May
monday → Monday
How to say the centuries
When we refer to a century, we also use ordinal numbers:
Centuries are divided into ten decades (a period of ten years).
How to ask the date
If you want to ask what the date is, you can say:
You can answer by saying:
How to ask the day of the week
If you want to ask the day of the week, you can say:
You can answer by saying:
Final thoughts
These are the ways we write and say dates. These are very natural English techniques and are used commonly by native speakers.
I hope you found this episode interesting and useful. If you would like me to prepare you an episode on a topic that you are having problems with, then why not send me a Speak Pipe message below. I would be more than happy to prepare that for you.
See you next week. Take care.
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