Dates, Time and Age

Rule: To avoid any confusion, please do not write down the date with numbers only. If you do write out the date with words, in American English, don’t use 'th' or 'rd' or anything after the number.

Example: 5/10/04: British people read the date as the 5th October 2004, but Americans interpret the date as the May 10 2004. Use American English (Month/Day/Year)! 5/10/04 in American English would be May 10, 2004 (not May 10th).

Rule: Use numerals and am or pm, with a space in between. Don’t use minutes for on-the-hour time. Use a dash between times to indicate a time period.

Example: 7 AM; 7:30 PM; 7 AM–10:30 PM

Rule: Specify time zones when writing about an event or something else people would need to schedule.

• • Eastern time: EST (Eastern Standard Time)

  • Central time: CST

  • Pacific time: PST

Rule: Abbreviate decades when referring to those within the past 100 years. When referring to decades more than 100 years ago, be more specific.

Example: the 00s; the 90s; the 1900s; the 1890s

Rule: Write the age of a person by using this template: XY-year-old. Use a hyphen between the numbers and words.

Example: 33-year-old woman; 6-month-old infant; 4-day-old baby