Page 55 - Perfect English Grammar: The Indispensable Guide to Excellent Writing and Speaking

The standard abbreviations for the months and days are: January: Jan.
■ February: Feb.

■ ■ ■ March: Mar. or not abbreviated April: Apr. or not abbreviated May: not
■ ■ abbreviated June: Jun. or not abbreviated July: Jul. or not abbreviated

■ August: Aug.
■ September: Sept.

■ October: Oct.

■ November: Nov.
■ December: Dec.
■ Monday: Mon.

■ Tuesday: Tues. or Tue.

■ Wednesday: Wed.
■ Thursday: Thurs. or Thur.

■ Friday: Fri.
■ Saturday: Sat.

■ Sunday: Sun.

For formal writing, always spell out the months and days. For informal
writing, just be sure whichever style you choose is consistent and your readers

will understand it.

4.8.2 DECADES AND YEARS CAN BE ABBREVIATED IN

INFORMAL SITUATIONS.

■ ’76 = 1776

■ ’04 = 1904
■ the ’80s = the 80s = the 1980s = the Eighties = the eighties When the

2000s came around, most people did not abbreviate the years 2001–2009 as
they did 1901–1909. So ’04 almost always means 1904, ’09 usually means

1909, and so forth.
There are competing styles for abbreviating a decade as a two-digit number,

one with an apostrophe at the beginning and one without. Just as with