Do not use the endings -
st, -
nd, -
rd or -
th with a figure in a date. Note that, in British English, dates are written in the order day–month–year, without internal punctuation.
| 16 July 2020 |
In British English, the numeric form of the date above is, therefore:
| 16/07/20 |
Note that, in American English, dates are written in the order month–day–year, with a comma between the day and the year.
| July 16, 2020 |
In American English, the numeric form of the date above is, therefore:
| 07/16/20 |
- Days of the week
Do not use a comma after the day of the week when it precedes a date.
| Monday 23 November 2021 |
- Years
In running text, use all four digits when referring to a year.
| ’98 |
| 1998 |
- Academic years
Write academic years in one of the following two ways, but be consistent. Use a hyphen (-), not an en dash (–).
| the academic year 2022-2023 |
| the 2022-2023 academic year |
- Decades
Use numbers to refer to decades rather than writing them out. Do not add an apostrophe before the plural s.
| They were all born in the mid-1920s. |
| Our department changed its name twice during the 2010s. |
To refer to the decade in the period from 2000 to 2010, use a circumlocution such as the first decade of the 21st century.
- Centuries
Do not use Roman numerals for centuries. Instead, either spell out the century or use the ordinal number.
| the XX century |
| the twentieth century |
| the XIX century |
| the 19th century |
- Festivals and historic events
If a date refers to a festival or historical event, spell out the number.
| the Fourth of July celebrations |
| the Hundred Years’ War |
| the First of May demonstration |
- Laws
In citing pieces of legislation, arrange the dates as shown in the examples below.
| Spanish Personal Data Protection Law 15 of 13 December 1999 |
| Spanish Royal Decree 778 of 30 April 1998 |
| Organic Law 4 of 12 April 2007 amended by Organic Law 6 of 21 December 2001 on Universities |