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Updated On 13 March 2025 & Read Time 7 minutes
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There are various ways to write dates, but the correct date format in English is right, depending on the purpose, document type, and tone.
How you write dates in English usually depends on whether you are writing a formal letter or an informal note or whether you use British or American date formats. In this article, we will reveal all the ways dates are written in English and explain when and where to use them.
However, one tip we would like to share with you at the initial stage is that the more complicated the process, the more formal the date will be.
Table of Contents
British English (BrE) is generally used in the United Kingdom, Australia, countries that were part of the British Empire, and some English-speaking countries in Africa and South Asia. In it, after the day comes the month, after which comes the year. The 10th day of the month of August in the Year 2025 can be written as:
10 Aug.
10 August
10 August 2025
10th August 2025
the 10th of August 2025
the 10th of August, 2025
The last two date formats will be considered more formal. "The" and "of" are optional but if you use them, use them together. Using either of them (like, 10th of August or the 10th August ) will be wrong. Before the year commas are not necessary, but you can keep them if you want.
If you need to add the name of the day as well then you can add it before the date. You should either separate it with commas or connect it with "the" and "of.". Like:
Monday, 10th August 2025
Monday the 10th of August, 2025
If you are looking for a shorter format you can use the following style in British English. Day comes first, then the month, then the year.
10/8/25 or 10.8.25 or 10-8-19
10/08/2025 or 10.08.2025 or 10-08-2025
10Aug2025 or 10-Aug-25
Forward slash (/) is the most common separator in the all-numeric date format, but you can also use a period (.) or a hyphen (-).
When writing a date in American English, just make sure to keep the month before the day, and the year will written after it. If we use the same example as before: the 10th day of the month of August in the year 2025, then in American English the date should be written as:
Aug 10
August 10
August 10
August 10, 2019
Monday, August 10, 2025
Dates written as August the 10 or August 10th are not wrong but are less common in American English.
In American English, if you want to write the date in full numeric, you must use the following style. Here too, first comes the month, then the day, then the year.
08/10/25 or 08.10.25 or 08-10-25
08/10/2025 or 08.10.2025 or 08-10-2025
Aug.10, 2025
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If an Australian (British English) writes 10/08/2025 as August 10, 2025, but an American writes the same date as 08/10/2025, which is correct?
As you can see the placement of the day and month can cause miscommunication between people using the British date format and people using the American date format. That’s why an international standard was developed.
The international standard recommends writing the date as year, then month, then day: YYYY-MM-DD. So if the Australians and Americans both use this, they will both write the date as 2025-08-10.
Writing dates this way avoids confusion by putting the year first. So, the next time you see the year first in a date then you will be able to understand that this date is written in international standard. Many Asian countries use this format. For example:
August 10, 2025, would be written as 2025 August 10.
Have you noticed there’s no comma? So, you can use this format as well.
For IELTS, both formats i.e. British English and American English are acceptable. So you can use either American or British English. Both are fine.
You should match the date format to the tone of your letter: an email to a friend is different from a formal letter to your boss.
For example, in a formal letter, avoid contractions like can’t or wouldn’t, use full forms instead. If the IELTS Writing task starts with “Dear Sir or Madam,” use a formal date style.
Except for May and June, months can be shortened:
January = Jan
February = Feb
March = Mar
April = Apr
July = Jul
August = Aug
September = Sep
October = Oct
November = Nov
December = Dec
In formal writing, always include the year (e.g., 10 March 2025 or March 10, 2025) and avoid using numbers only (e.g., 10/03/2025 or 03/10/2025). For example, write 15th August 2025 in British English or August 15, 2025, in American English. Remember, the first letter of each month is always capitalized.
For less formal writing, like a letter to a friend, you can use shorter formats such as:
15.03.25
15/03/2025
Or shorten the month:
12 January 2025 = 12 Jan 2025
5 February = 5 Feb
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Be mindful of word limits. If a question says “Write no more than two words,” writing more than two will get you no points, even if some words are correct.
For dates, several formats are correct (e.g., 20th April, April 20, and 20 April). You can use numbers to avoid spelling mistakes, such as 19/02 for 19 February.
In spoken English, use ordinal numbers for dates. For example, 4th instead of 4, and 2nd instead of 2.
In American English, it's common not to write the -th after the number, but it's still spoken.
# Pronunciation Tip - Practise pronouncing numbers clearly to avoid confusion. For example, "thirty" and "thirteen," "forty" and "fourteen," "fifty" and "fifteen."
30 March 1995
American: "March thirtieth, nineteen ninety-five"
British: "the thirtieth of March, nineteen ninety-five"
1 December 2020
American: "December first, twenty-twenty"
British: "the first of December, twenty-twenty"
1100 = ‘eleven hundred’
1208 = ‘twelve hundred and eight’ or ‘twelve ‘oh’ eight’
1379 = ‘thirteen (hundred and) seventy-nine’
1910 = ‘nineteen (hundred and) ten’
1442 = ‘fourteen (hundred and) forty-two’
2000 = ‘two thousand’
2009 = ‘two thousand and nine’ or ‘twenty ‘oh’ nine’
2018 = ‘two thousand and eighteen’ or ‘twenty eighteen’
2025 = ‘two thousand and twenty five’ or ‘twenty twenty-five’
We hope you have found the answer to the question of how to write the date correctly. However, if you need further assistance or are looking for reputable coaching for IELTS exam then contact us at Meridean Overseas. We have the best study abroad consultants and also provide great coaching facilities for IELTS candidates in India. So, whether you are looking for an IELTS institute in Jaipur, Mumbair or any other city in India, Contact Meridean Overseas today!
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