How to ask and tell or read dates in English - Learn English in Contexts

As an ESL speaker, you can follow either the American or British way of telling the date. This blog will explain how to tell the date in American English, which differs from the British way and is more casual. In the American system, the month comes first, followed by the day in ordinal form, and then the year.
 
For example, the date 1/3/2021 is pronounced as "January third, 2021" or "January the third, 2021." For full dates like this, the preposition "on" is used, as in "The meeting is scheduled on January third, 2021."
 
This is an a cartoon photo of two people asking for and telling the date, featured in the a blog post on the same topic
 
Note that British and other Commonwealth countries follow a different practice, putting the day first, followed by the month. So, the same date (1/3/2021) would be pronounced as "the third of January, 2021" by those following British English.
 

Common ways of asking about/for dates are as follows!

  • What day is it today? What day is it tomorrow?
  • What date is it today? What date is it tomorrow?
  • What is the date today? What is the date tomorrow?
  • What is the day today? What is the day tomorrow?
  • What is today's date? What is tomorrow's date?
  • What date is it?
  • Can you tell me the date?
  • Do you know the date?
  • Can I know the date?
  • What date is your doctor's appointment?
  • What is the date of your doctor's appointment?
  • Can you tell me the date of your doctor's appointment?

 Similarly, if there is a need, you can frame your questions like these:

  • What's the deadline for the project?
  • When is the project due?
  • What's the due date for the project?

 

How to tell dates

  • It is Friday, the eighth./ It is Friday, eighth.
  • It is March third./ It is March, the third.
  • The function is on twenty ninth (It is on 29th).
  • It is Monday today.
  • Today is Monday.
  • Today is the eighteenth.
  • It would be on the week of the 15th.
  • It is the eighth.

("the" before the ordinal numbers is optional, mostly left out in informal speeches.)

Phrases like on the week of OR for the week of imply that the exact date is not known to the speaker by has an inkling that it belongs to a week that includes the mentioned date.

  • I'll hear back from them on the week of the 15th. (Exact date unknown, but likely around 15th)
  • The package will arrive on the week of the 22nd." (Sometime during the week of the 22nd)
  • "I'm on vacation for the week of the 10th." (Whole week, including 10th, is vacation time)
  •  "The meeting is scheduled for the week of the 25th." (Meeting will happen sometime during that week) 



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