Page 54 - Perfect English Grammar: The Indispensable Guide to Excellent Writing and Speaking

frustrated, especially in cases where it’s not clear from the context which system
is being used. Does 6/5/1947 mean June 5, 1947, or May 6, 1947? Ask if you’re

not sure!
There is also a more functional standard used worldwide for technical and

data-sharing purposes: year-month-day: 1957-06-05.
In the spelled-out US form that uses the names of the months, such as July 4,

1776, notice the commas after the day and the year. That’s an important style

point easily overlooked.

■ Wrong: Elvis Presley died August 16, 1977 at this home in
Graceland. December 14 1972 was the last human spaceflight to the

moon.

■ Right: On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers made the first
powered airplane flight.

There’s yet another way to write dates. You’re likely to find it in formal or

old-fashioned writing, or in government documents that adhere to old style rules.
This uses ordinal numbers (see section 4.9, Numbers), such as first, twelfth,

nineteenth, thirty-first, and so on.

■ We proclaim the thirtieth of March as Marvin Hecshler Day in the City

of Wooster, Ohio.
■ The Fourth of July is a bank holiday in the United States.

However, do not use ordinal numbers with full dates.

■ Bad: I think he was born on July 30th, 1970.
■ Good: I think he was born on July 30, 1970.

The use of on is optional before the date (as in the example above). It may
sound better to you with it. More formal writing (and most copyeditors) omit it.

4.8.1 DATE ABBREVIATIONS