MATERIAL

DAY, MONTH AND YEAR

Days of the week in English

Here are the seven days of the week in English with the pronunciation:

⦿ Monday – /’mun.dei/

⦿ Tuesday – /’tiu:z.dei/

⦿ Wednesday – /’wenz.dei/

⦿ Thursday – /’thurz.dei/

⦿ Friday – /’frai.dei/

⦿ Saturday – /’sa.ta.dei/

⦿ Sunday – /’sun.dei/

The accent in the pronunciation is always on the first syllable, The two
most difficult days to pronounce are Tuesday and Thursday, so take
extra time to practice those.

As you can see, we always use a capital letter for the first letter of each
day. Here are some examples:

–  I work from Monday to Friday. I’m free on Saturday and Sunday.

– Our next lesson is on Wednesday.

– Saturday is his favorite day of the week because he plays football.

–  The meeting is on Thursday at 10:30.

–  We’ve got an appointment on Tuesday morning.

As you can see, we often use ‘on’ before the days of the week.
How to ask which day of the week 
If you want to ask what day of the week it is, say:

What day is it today?  or What’s the day today?

What day is it tomorrow? or What’s the day tomorrow?

 To answer these questions you can say,

It’s Monday today.  or Today is Monday.

It’s Tuesday tomorrow.  or Tomorrow is Tuesday.

Months in English
Here are the twelve months in English with the pronunciation:

1. January – /’gian.iu.e.ri/
2. February – /’fe.bru.e.ri/
3. March – /’ma:tc/
4. April – /’ei.pril/
5. May – /’mei/
6. June – /’giun/
7. July – /giu’lai/
8. August – /’o:.gust/
9. September – /sep’tem.ba/
10. October – /ok’tou.ba/
11. November – /nou’vem.ba/
12. December – /di’sem.ba/

We also always use a capital letter for the first letter of months. For
example:

–  February is the shortest month of the year, with only 28 days.

–  They’re going away on holiday in May.

–  The weather is very hot here in July.

–  It’s very cold in December.

–  Halloween is in October.

As you can see, with the months we use ‘in’.

  month short form days season

1 January Jan. 31 winter

2 February Feb. 28/2

9

3 March Mar. 31 spring

4 April Apr. 30

5 May May 31

6 June Jun. 30 summer

7 July Jul. 31

8 August Aug. 31

9 September Sep. 30 autumn

10 October Oct. 31
   month short form days season

11 November Nov. 30

12 December Dec. 31 winter

The seasons are approximate and depend on latitude. Some parts of the
world have only three seasons. The seasons shown here are for the North
Temperate Zone (for example North America). In the southern hemisphere,
the seasons are reversed.

Years in English
In English, most years are separated into two numbers. For example:

 1750 – seventeen fifty

 1826 – eighteen twenty-six
 1984 – nineteen eighty-four
 2017 – twenty seventeen
The first year of each century is pronounced like this:

 1400 – fourteen hundred

  1700 – seventeen hundred
 2000 – two thousand
 The first nine years of a century are pronounced like this:

 1401 – fourteen oh one

 1701 – seventeen oh one
 2001 – two thousand and one

For the year 2000 you say (the year) two thousand.

For the years 2001 to 2010, the most common way of saying the year is
two thousand and + number.

2001 = two thousand and one

2005 = two thousand and five

2008 = two thousand and eight

For the first years after 2010 you may hear two different alternatives.

2012 – Some people say two thousand and twelve while others say
twenty twelve.

They are both used and both correct.

We can refer to a decade (a period of ten years) in this way:

 1960-1969 – The ‘60s – pronounced ‘the sixties’

 1980-1989 – The ‘80s – pronounced ‘the eighties’.
 2000 – 2009 – The 2000s – pronounced ‘the two thousands’
 

For example:

–  The Beatles were famous in the sixties.

–  My parents got married in the seventies.

–  Maradona played for Napoli in the eighties.

–  Where were you living in the nineties?

–  The internet became popular worldwide in the two thousands.

As you can see, we use ‘in’ with the years.

 Writing Years with AD (Anno Domini), BC
(Before Christ), BCE, and CE
You sometimes see years written with AD or BC, like this:
 71 AD
 450 BC
AD stands for the Latin Anno Domini meaning "In the year of Our Lord".
BC stands for Before Christ.

Or, in short:
AD is AFTER Jesus Christ was born.
BC is BEFORE Jesus Christ was born.

BC is always written after the year. AD may be written before the year or
(modern style) after the year. If a year is shown without AD or BC, it is
usually AD.

Here are some examples going back in time:

The Gregorian calendar was introduced in 1582 AD / AD 1582.
Genghis Khan died in 1227 AD./ AD 1227
Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC.
The Great Pyramid was completed in Egypt more than 4,500 years ago,
around 2566 BC.
To cater to religious diversity, the abbreviations BCE (Before Common Era)
and CE (Common Era) can be used to replace BC and AD.

CE stands for "Common Era" and is the same as AD.

BCE stands for "Before Common Era" and is the same as BC.

Look at these examples:

 Genghis Khan died in 1227 CE. [same as 1227 AD]

 Rome was founded in 753 BCE. [same as 753 BC]