Days and Dates in English

A. Ordinal numbers
1st first 11th eleventh 21st twenty-first 31st thirty-first

2nd second 12th twelfth 22nd twenty-second

2
3rd third 13th thirteenth 23rd twenty-third

4th fourth 14th fourteenth 24th twenty-fourth

5th fifth 15th fifteenth 25th twenty-fifth

6th sixth 16th sixteenth 26th twenty-sixth

7th seventh 17th seventeenth 27th twenty-seventh

8th eighth 18th eighteenth 28th twenty-eighth

9th ninth 19th nineteenth 29th twenty-ninth

10th tenth 20th twentieth 30th thirtieth

I My
take two weeks’
birthday holidays in summer.
is in September.

B. Days of the week

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

These are weekdays. These are the weekend.

My training course is on Mondays and Thursdays.

 C. Writing and saying dates

You say ... You write ...

1st first the first of August, August (the) first 1 August, 1st August, August 1st
2nd second the second of August, August (the) second 2 August, 2nd August, August 2nd
2
Note: AmE: You usually say August first and you always write August 1 or August 1st

BrE: 1/8 in informal writing; AmE: 8/1

My birthday is on the seventh of November.

Exercises:

1. Write each date in one of the ways you can say it.

17 Mar (St Patrick’s Day) the seventeenth of March OR March (the) seventeenth
10 Jun (Portugal and Communities Day)
4 Jul (Independence Day) The four of july
14 Jul (Bastille Day) The fourteen of luly
31 Oct (Halloween) The Thirty-one of octuber
25 Dec (Christmas) The Twnty-four of desember
31 Dec (New Year’s Eve) The thirty-one of december

2. Write the days and dates of the shows, using the calendar and the information about an exhibition centre.

1. The Cat Show is on Monday 28th March or March 28th.

2.
3.
4.
5.

3. Complete the sentences with the adequate preposition.

1. Her birthday is _in_____ June. 4. I usually go on holiday ______ August.
2. Earth Day is _in____ 22nd April. 5. The main national holiday in France is ________ July
3. The office is too hot _____ summer and too cold ______ 14th.
winter.