Correctly writing and reading the date in English can be difficult. Let's take today as an example.

December 15th, 2015

December 15, 2015

The day and month will be pronounced as the fifteenth of December or December the fifteenth , and the year as twenty fifteen or two thousand and fifteen . No wonder so many people have trouble here! Let's take a closer look at the rules.

Days and months

In English, we can put both the number before the month, and the month before the number.

the fifteenth of December/ December the fifteenth

Note that ordinal numbers are used to denote dates in English (the first, the second, the third, the fourth, the twenty-first, the thirty-second, and so on).

years

In years prior to 2000, the four digits are split into two pairs.

1876 =eighteen seventy-six

1542 = fifteen forty two

Dates such as 1800 or 1900 are read as eighteen hundred, nineteen hundred .

1902 = nineteen oh two, 1903 = nineteen oh three

2000 is often pronounced as the year two thousand

The years 2000 to 2009 are usually read as follows:

2001 = two thousand and one, 2002 =two thousand and two, etc.

Since 2010, we can say dates or using the word thousand , How two thousand ten , or split them into two pairs of numbers, like twenty ten .

2015 = twenty fifteen/ two thousand and fifteen

Centuries

Centuries are denoted by ordinal numbers.

the 20th century/the twentieth century— 20th century

the 21st century/the twenty-first century— 21st century

Note that the definite article must be used before the noun determined by the ordinal number. (Read more about the use of articles).

decades

The decades from 1920 to 1999 are denoted as nineteen-twenties /the Twenties(twenties), nineteen-thirties/the Thirds (thirties), and so on.

The decade from 2000 to 2010 does not have an established name, someone calls it twenty hundred , someone "two thousand". In writing, you may see the designation as "the "00s" or "the 2000s". But "the 2000s", and the phrase "the two-thousands" can also refer to the entire 21st century, or even the whole millennium. expression like the Noughties ("zero", from the English word nought, which translates as zero).

Prepositions

We use the preposition on when talking about a day or a date.

on Monday(s)(on Monday(s)), on July 14, 1972(in July 1972), on my birthday(on my birthday)

We use the preposition in when talking about long periods of time.

in December(in December), spring(spring) in 1972, in the 16th century(in the 16th century), in the past(in past), in the future(in future)

You can also check how well you know the rules for using prepositions of time by doing .

Useful words and phrases

millennium= millennium (plural - millennia)

century= century, century

decade= decade

If you want to ask what day it is today, or what date it is today, you can use the following phrases:

What day is it please?

What date is it please?/What's the date today please?

Interesting Facts

1. Abbreviation A.D. , used in many Western European languages, means the time of our era, from the birth of Christ. This is an abbreviation for the Latin expression Anno Domini, which can be translated as in the year of our Lord.

The abbreviation BC (short for Before Christ) stands for BC.

These abbreviations are very widespread and are used by non-Christians as well. There are also abbreviations CE (Common Era) and BCE (Before Common Era), which some consider more neutral.

2. In American In English, the date format is mm/dd/yy (month, day, year). December 15, 2015 will be recorded as 12/15/15.

AT British English dates are written in the format dd/mm/yy (day, month, year). December 15, 2015 will be recorded as 12/15/15.

Such differences often lead to errors and misunderstandings, so it is better to write the date in full:

Similar posts

In the modern age, saturated with information, there is less and less time for communication and correspondence. No matter how paradoxical it may sound, but the more information a person owns, the more ways he is looking for to reduce it and transmit it in a more concise form. One of the best ways to shorten words and expressions is to use abbreviations.

Today they are ubiquitous in general English, in business correspondence, in SMS messages and chats, in international terms. Many of them are used quite often, so not only English learners, but also an ordinary modern person should master a couple of the most common of them.

Abbreviation(Italian abbreviatura from lat. brevis - short) - a word formed by abbreviation of a word or phrase and read by the alphabetic name of the initial letters or by the initial sounds of the words included in it.

Abbreviations are found in any language of the world and play a huge role. Sometimes ignorance or incorrect use of one or another abbreviation in English can lead to a rather awkward situation or misunderstanding of what the interlocutor wants to express with this or that phrase.

Let's look at an example of the misuse of a fairly well-known abbreviation lol(laughing out loud - laugh out loud).

messages
Mom: Your beloved aunt just passed away. lol
I: Why is that funny?
Mom: It's not funny, David!
I: Mom, LOL means “laughing out loud”.
Mom: Oh my goodness! I thought it means “lots of love”...I sent it to everyone! I need to call everybody…

Messages
Mom: Your beloved aunt has just passed away. lol
Me: What's funny about that?
Mom: That's not funny, David!
Me: Mom, lol mean "laugh out loud".
Mom: Oh God! I thought it meant lots of love...
I sent this to everyone! We all need to call...

Most popular abbreviations

This list of abbreviations can be found everywhere and, for sure, you are familiar with most of them visually, but let's pay attention to their correct translation and use.

• V.I.P. (very important person)- very important person;
• P.S.(from Latin "post scriptum") - after what is written;
• A.D.(from lat. "Anno Domini") - our era;
• B.C. / B.C.E. -before Christ- before Christ / before Common Era- BC;
• ASAP (as soon as possible)- As soon as possible;
• UNO (United Nations Organization)- UN;
• UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization)- UNESCO;
• a.m.(ante meridiem, in the morning)- in the morning;
• p.m.(post meridium, in the afternoon)- in the evening;
• i.e. ( id est , that is)- it means;
• e.g. ( exempli gratia , for example)- eg;
• u (you)- you;
• etc.(from lat. et cetera) - and so on;
• 2G2BT (too good to be true)- too good to be true;
• 2moro (tomorrow)- tomorrow;
• 2day (today)- today;
• BD or BDAY (birthday)- birthday;
• 2nite (tonight)- in the evening;
• 4ever (forever)- forever;
• AFAIK (as far as I know)- as far as I know;
• BTW (by the way)- by the way;
• RLY (really)- indeed, true;
• BRB (be right back)- I'll be back soon;
• TTYL (talk to you later)- we'll talk later, "before communication";
• IMHO (in my honest opinion)- in my opinion, in my opinion;
• AKA (also known as)- also known as;
• TIA (thanks in advance)- thanks in advance.

Let's look at the use of the abbreviations above in examples:

• According to my work schedule I need to come to work at 8 a.m.-According to my work schedule, I need to come to work at 8 am.
• AFAIK this concert will be held 2day.- As far as I know, the concert will be held today.
• All these events happened in 455 B.C.- All these events took place in 455 BC.
• I invite u to my BD 2nite.- I'm inviting you to my birthday party tonight.
• btw she was RLY good at Math at school. - By the way (by the way) she was really good at math when she was in school.
• I'm sorry. I'm in hurry. TTYL.- I'm sorry, I'm in a hurry. Let's talk later.

The abbreviations in general English are described quite interestingly in this video:

Business Letters and Abbreviations

Writing business letters and compiling business correspondence today requires high-quality study and a careful approach. When faced with the design and decoding of abbreviations in business English for the first time, a beginner sometimes experiences confusion and bewilderment of what it all means. The difficulty lies in the correct use of this or that abbreviation, as well as in the specifics of business vocabulary. However, as in any field of language learning, knowledge and a little practice will help to cope with any difficulties.

A number of abbreviations are used only in writing, but in oral speech the full forms of the word are pronounced:

• Mr. (mister)- Mister;
• Mrs. (mistress)- Mrs.
• Dr. (doctor)- doctor;
• St. (Saint/Street)- saint or street;
• Blvd. (boulevard)- boulevard;
• Ave. (avenue)- avenue;
• Sq. (square)- square;
• Rd. (road)- road;
• Bldg. (building)- building;
• B. Sc. (Bachelor of Science)- Bachelor of Science;
• M.A. (Master of Arts)- Master of Arts;
• Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy)- PhD;
• M.D. (Doctor of Medicine)- Doctor of Medical Sciences.

The most popular business abbreviations of English words are given below:

• Co (company)- company;
• PA (personal assistant)- personal assistant;
• Appx. (appendix)- application;
• Re. (reply)- answer;
• p. (page)- page;
• smth. (something)- something;
• smb. (somebody)- someone;
• vs( lat. versus)- vs;
• etc. ( lat. et cetera)- And so on.

Popular three-letter acronyms ( TLA or Three Letter Acronyms) in the business area:

• CAO (Chief Administrative Officer)- Head of Administration;
• CEO (Chief Executive Officer)- chief executive officer (general director);
• exp. (export)- export - export of goods outside the country;
• HR (human resources)- personnel service of the enterprise;
• HQ (Headquarters)- head office of the company;
• LLC (limited liability company)- limited liability company (LLC);
• R&D (research and development)- Research and development;
• IT (information technology)- information Technology.

Examples of business correspondence using abbreviations :

• Dear Mr. Brown, our co will be glad to offer you the position of CAO.- Dear Mr. Brown, our company will be glad to offer you the position of chief accountant of the company.
• Dear Ms. Stone, my PA will definitely contact you about changes in exp. process - Dear Ms. Stone, my personal secretary will definitely contact you about changes in the export process.

Chats and SMS

As mentioned above, there are three-letter Acronyms in English ( TLA or Three Letter Acronyms), which help shorten and compress fairly large phrases down to 3 letters. Today, this is a fairly popular way to save time when chatting on social networks.

• BFN (bye for now)- see you later, bye
• BTW (by the way)- by the way
• FYI (for your information)- for your information
• JIT (just in time)- in time
• IOW (in other words)- in other words, in other words
• NRN (no reply is necessary)- no answer required
• OTOH (on the other hand)- on the other hand

As for SMS abbreviations, there are a huge number of them.
The specificity of such abbreviations is that it can be almost impossible to decipher without a detailed analysis.

• GL (good luck)- good luck!
• GB (good bye)- bye
• DNO (don't know)- I don't know
• ASAYGT (as soon as you get this)- as soon as you receive it
• B4 (before)- before
• BC (because)- because
• BON (believe it or not)- believe it or not
• BW (best wishes)- with best regards
• BZ (busy)- busy
• CYT (see you tomorrow)- see you tomorrow

• Wish you GL on your exam. Mom. - I wish you good luck on the exam. Mum.
• Sorry. b.z. CYT.- I am sorry. Busy. See you tomorrow.
• I will be JIT. GB.- I'll be on time. Bye.

For a detailed acquaintance with English abbreviations of words in SMS, we recommend visiting, which contains 2000+ abbreviations.

As we can see, the topic is quite extensive, but do not be afraid! Having encountered acronyms and abbreviations in English several times, you simply cannot help but love them for their originality and help in saving you time. And having fallen in love with something, you will surely and easily remember it!

We offer you to choose a couple of abbreviations for yourself right now and surprise your loved ones with improved communication! BFN and watch your step while texting!

Big and friendly family EnglishDom

Translation and meaning of ST in English and Russian

I state_n. state _II St - saint _n. saint _III ST - Standard Time _n. standard time

English-Russian-English Dictionary of General Vocabulary, a collection of the best dictionaries. English-Russian-English dictionary of general lexis, the collection of the best dictionaries. 2012