In American English
If you want to be formal, you write the month and the day, and then you add the year in numerical format.
For example: May the twentieth, 1981
A less formal way of writing the date is writing only the month and then adding the day and the year in numerical format.
For example: May 20th, 1981
The least formal way of writing the date is using all numerical formats.
05/20/1981
Note: you can use a dot (.) or a hyphen (-) instead of a slash (/).
For example: 05.20.1981 or 05-20-1981
In British English
The only difference between American and British English in writing the date is actually the order of the month and the day. In American English month comes first, however; in British English day comes first.
| American English | British English |
| 05/20/1981 05-22-1986 |
20/05/1981 22-05-1986 |
| May the twentieth, 1981 May the twenty-second, 1986 |
the twentieth of May, 1981 the twenty-second of May, 1986 |
| Note: In both American and British English months are written with an initial capital. For example: May, June, July |
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