Dates

What’s the date today?

1. How to say the date in English

A. Order: month – day – year  

In most modern spoken English (especially American):

- February 19, 2026

  → “February nineteenth, twenty-six”

More examples:  

- March 3, 1999 → “March third, nineteen ninety-nine”  

- July 21, 2010 → “July twenty-first, twenty ten”

B. Saying the day in words

We use ordinal numbers:

1st → first  

2nd → second  

3rd → third  

4th → fourth  

5th → fifth  

21st → twenty-first  

22nd → twenty-second  

23rd → twenty-third  

31st → thirty-first  

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2. Prepositions of time with dates

A. On + specific date / day

Use on with:

- exact dates  

- days of the week  

Examples (with simple past and past form of be):

- “The meeting was on February 19, 2024.”  

- “We met on Monday.”  

- “The party was on July 4th.”  

Form:  

- Affirmative:  

  - I/you/we/they were  

  - he/she/it was  

> “They were on holiday on May 1st.”  

> “It was on the 10th of June.”

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B. In + months / years / seasons

Use in with:

- months  

- years  

- seasons  

Examples:

- “We visited London in 2019.”  

- “She was in Paris in June.”  

- “It was very hot in the summer of 2020.”

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C. At + specific time of day

Use at with:

- clock times  

- night / the weekend / lunchtime, etc.

Examples:

- “The concert was at 8 p.m.”  

- “I was at home at midnight.”  

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3. Putting it all together (practice)

1. Complete with on / in / at and the past of be (was/were):

a) The exam ___ March 15th.  

b) We ___ very busy ___ 2020.  

c) The party ___ Saturday evening.  

d) I ___ in Spain ___ August.  

2. Model answers:

a) The exam was on March 15th.  

b) We were very busy in 2020.  

c) The party was on Saturday evening.  

d) I was in Spain in August.

Quiz 

## Part 1 – Saying the date

1. How do you say this date?  

   April 2, 2015

   a) April two, two thousand fifteen  

   b) April second, twenty fifteen  

   c) April second, two thousand fifteen  

2. How do you say this date?  

   September 21, 1998

   a) September twenty-one, nineteen ninety-eight  

   b) September twenty-first, nineteen ninety-eight  

   c) September twenty-one, nineteen nine eight  

3. Write this date in words (day as an ordinal number):  

   June 3, 2020 

   → “June __________, twenty”

4. Choose the correct ordinal number:

   a) 1st →  

      - [ ] oneth  

      - [ ] firstly  

      - [ ] first  

   b) 22nd →  

      - [ ] twenty-two  

      - [ ] twenty-second  

      - [ ] twenty-twoth  

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## Part 2 – Prepositions of time (on / in / at)

Choose on, in, or at.

5. My birthday is ___ May 10th.  

6. We were in London ___ 2018.  

7. The meeting was ___ 3 p.m.  

8. They were on holiday ___ July.  

9. The concert was ___ Friday night.  

10. I was very tired ___ the weekend.  

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## Part 3 – Was / Were + prepositions

Complete the sentences with was or were, and on / in / at.

11. The test ______ January 12th.  

12. We ______ very happy ______ 2022.  

13. The film ______ 9 o’clock.  

14. She ______ in Italy ______ the summer.  

15. I ______ at home ______ Sunday morning.  

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## Part 4 – Mixed practice

16. Choose the correct option:

   “The party ___ on February 19, 2024.”  

   - [ ] were  

   - [ ] was  

   - [ ] is  

17. Choose the correct sentence:

   a) We were in Spain on August.  

   b) We were in Spain in August.  

   c) We were in Spain at August.  

18. Choose the correct sentence:

   a) The class was on Monday.  

   b) The class was in Monday.  

   c) The class was at Monday.  

19. Write the date in words:  

   **October 31, 2019**  

   → “_______________________________”

20. Fill in the gap:  

   “It ______ very cold ______ the winter of 2020.”

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## Answer key

1. b  

2. b  

3. third  

4. a) first b) twenty-second  

5. on  

6. in  

7. at  

8. in  

9. on  

10. at  

11. was on  

12. were in  

13. was at  

14. was in  

15. was on  

16. was  

17. b  

18. a  

19. “October thirty-first, twenty nineteen”  

20. was, in