WRITING DATES in ENGLISH 

In British English the date is usually given in the order day–month–year.

We normally use full stops in dates, but forward slashes or dashes are also common:

• • • 19.2.2019 or 19/2/2019 or 19–2–2019

 In American English the day and the month are in a different order so that 19 February 2019 is written as follows:

• • • 2–19–2019 or 2/19/2019  or 2.19.2019

BE CAREFUL! The fact that the Americans and the Britons write the dates using numerals in different styles may lead to serious confusion. While to an American the date 6/7/19 is 7 July, 2019, it will be understood as 7 June, 2019 to a Briton. It is therefore best to write the date in full to avoid any misunderstanding. 

When writing out the name of the month in English you can use two styles:

• • • day–month–year style (19 February 2019)

    • or month–day–year style (February 19, 2019).

If you begin with the month, you should add a comma after the day and also after the year, unless another punctuation mark goes there, such as a full stop or a question mark. It is important to consistently use the same style in one text. 

Remember! Names of the days of the week and months of the year are always written with capital letters in English. 

For more information on writing dates in English see:

• • • Cambridge Dictionary –  punctuation;

    • Cambridge Dictionary –   writing the date; 

    • Gibaldi 2003, pp.100-101.

WRITING DATES in POLISH

 In Polish texts the correct order for writing dates is: day–month–year. 

The particular elements of the date can be written as words, as words and numbers, or as numbers only. When writing the name of the month as a number either Arabic or Roman numerals can be used. When Arab numerals are used, there should be a full stop after the number of the day and after the number of the month. If Roman numerals are used instead of the name of the month, you do not add a full stop. 

• • •  dziewiętnasty lutego dwa tysiące dziewiętnastego roku

    • 19 lutego 2019 r.

    • 19.02.2019 r.

    • 19 II 2019 r.

There should always be a space between the year and the abbreviation r. for year.

In contrast with English, weekdays and the names of months of the year are not capitalised in Polish.

For more information on writing dates in Polish see: 

• • Wolański 2008, pp. 130–132.

WRITING TIMES of the DAY in ENGLISH

To indicate most times of the day in English we usually use numerals, for example:

• • • 3 p.m. or 3:00 p.m. 

    • the 6.25 train or the 2:55 flight

 We can punctuate times with full stops or colons:

• • • The shop opens at 9.30. 

    • He came over at 9:30.

 For time expressed in quarter and half hours and in hours followed by o’clock we spell out all the words:

• • • a quarter to two

    • half past eleven

    • eight o’clock

Remember! In English, the 24-hour clock is used only in formal writing and in timetables. In all other situations the abbreviations ‘a.m.’ (or am) and ‘p.m.’ (or pm) are used to specify the time of day referred to. 

 For more information on writing time in English see:

• • • Cambridge Dictionary

WRITING TIMES of the DAY in POLISH

In Polish, when writing the time using numbers, you should punctuate the time with a full stop like this: 7.45. In more professional texts you may use a colon or superscript characters for minutes, like this: 7:45 or 745.

In Polish, the 24-hour clock is used much more often than in English, even in everyday language. 

COMMAS and POINTS in NUMBERS in ENGLISH

In English, commas are usually used in numbers to indicate units of thousands and millions. American writers never use a comma when writing four-digit numerals in digits (AmE.: 2000 years, 4200 people), but Britons often write 2,000 years and 4,200 people. 

A five-digit or larger numeral always takes one or more commas:

• • • 34,000 refugees 

    • 165,000 cases of AIDS

    • 3,640,533 patents 

The above rule does not apply to page and line numbers, addresses and four-digit year numbers:

• • • on page 1045

    • at 4231 Broadway

    • in 1998

 In English, we use full stops, not commas, to indicate decimal points:

• • • 6.5 (six point five) 

COMMAS and POINTS in NUMBERS in POLISH

In Polish, numbers that consist of more than four digits are written with a space to indicate units of thousands and millions. Use a nonbreaking space (spacja nierozdzielająca). DO NOT USE A COMMA OR A POINT!

• • • 3 064 876

For more information on writing numbers in Polish see:

• • • Wolański 2008, pp.104–118

    • Poradnia językowa PWN

MORE on DIGITS and NUMBERS

For more o digits and numbers see the student presentation below.

For more on large numbers in British and American English see this Britannica article: https://www.britannica.com/topic/large-numbers-1765137.