Writing Dates in Words
In US English, dates are usually written Month Day, Year — e.g. April 23, 2026. When spelled out in words (contracts, invitations), you write the month, the ordinal day, and the year.
Rules
- The day is always an ordinal (first, second, thirty-first) in spelled-out dates — even if you write April 23 in numerals.
- For years 1000–1999 and 2100+, split the year into two halves: seventeen seventy-six, twenty twenty-six.
- For years 2000–2099, you can say either two thousand twenty-six or twenty twenty-six — both are standard.
- Use a comma between the day and the year (US). UK English often writes the 23rd of April 2026.
Examples
| Input | In words |
|---|---|
| 2026-04-23 | April twenty-third, two thousand twenty-six |
| 2000-01-01 | January first, two thousand |
| 1776-07-04 | July fourth, seventeen seventy-six |
| 1984-12-25 | December twenty-fifth, nineteen eighty-four |
| 2024-11-11 | November eleventh, two thousand twenty-four |
See also
- Spelling Money Amounts
Learn how to write dollar and cent amounts in words for US checks, contracts, and legal documents — with rules for 'and 00/100 dollars' and examples from $1 to $1,000,000. - Writing Numbers on a Check
Step-by-step guide to writing numbers in words on a US bank check, including cents as NN/100, where to place 'and', and real check-writing examples. - Ordinal Numbers
Complete guide to spelling ordinal numbers from 1st (first) to 100th (one hundredth), including irregulars like fifth, eighth, ninth, twelfth, and twentieth. - Saying Phone Numbers in Words
Learn how to pronounce and spell out US phone numbers, area codes, and toll-free 1-800 numbers digit by digit in English. - Spelling Fractions
Learn how to spell fractions in English words by combining a cardinal numerator with an ordinal denominator — plus when to hyphenate fractions. - Spelling Decimal Numbers
How to read and write decimal numbers like 3.14, 0.5, and 0.005 in English words — both digit-by-digit after 'point' and by tenths/hundredths. - Spelling Negative Numbers
Learn how to write and pronounce negative numbers like -1, -47, and -100 in English using 'negative' for math/finance and 'minus' for temperatures. - Million, Billion, Trillion, and Beyond
Learn the short-scale names and spellings for large numbers in English — million, billion, trillion, quadrillion, quintillion, and how to chunk 3-digit groups.