# fecha - el 31 de enero



## Mayoide

Hola.
Me gustaría saber si son correctos estos dos formatos de fecha:
On 31st January (para decir p ej el 31 de enero fui al cine). Lo he visto escrito on 31January, on January 31st, pero no sé si se puede poner con el ordinal al principio.
31st January 2014 (como fecha en un examen p ej). Aquí me pasa lo mismo, no sé si es correcto el uso del ordinal delante.

Gracias!!


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## gengo

31st January:  not incorrect, but I don't think I've seen it
31 January:  more popular in the UK, but gaining some popularity in the US
January 31:  most popular form in the US
January 31st:  still used, but declining in popularity
31st January 2014:  I would say this is incorrect.  The correct form with the suffix (-st, etc.) is:  January 31st, 2014.  The comma is required.  

But again, "Jan. 31, 2014" is the most common form in the US when writing out the month.  However, we usually just use numbers:  1/31/14.


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## Wandering JJ

A couple of points:
only the U.S. uses the MDY sequence - most other countries use the more logical sequence DMY (YMD in the case of China).
31st January is very common.


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## gengo

Wandering JJ said:


> (YMD in the case of China).



And in other countries, including my other home of Japan.  The same pattern of going from largest to smallest also applies to writing postal addresses there, so we write country, prefecture, city, ward, division, block, and building.  This makes more sense to me than the English way (smallest to largest) because the postal carrier looks at the words in the necessary order.



> 31st January is very common.



Even with the year added?  (That is what I said is incorrect.)  That just looks strange to me, but it wouldn't be the first time something British looked strange to an American.  

I know the format 31 January 2014 is the standard in the UK.  I am asking about "31st."


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## Wandering JJ

In British English it is quite common and *correct* to add the ending of the ordinal number in dates at the head of letters. This is the format I use in official correspondence: *31st January 2014 *- no comma before the year these days, although it used to be the norm. We read it as "(the) thirty-first of January" followed either by "two thousand and fourteen" or "twenty fourteen".


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## gengo

Wandering JJ said:


> In British English it is quite common and *correct* to add the ending of the ordinal number in dates at the head of letters. This is the format I use in official correspondence: *31st January 2014 *- no comma before the year these days, although it used to be the norm. We read it as "(the) thirty-first of January" followed either by "two thousand and fourteen" or "twenty fourteen".



Thanks.  I'll add that to my mental stockpile of Britishisms.

BTW, do you ever say "January thirty-first" in speech?


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## Wandering JJ

gengo said:


> BTW, do you ever say "January thirty-first" in speech?


Personally no. I would say "January the thirty-first", but not when followed by the year.


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## gengo

Wandering JJ said:


> Personally no. I would say "January the thirty-first", but not when followed by the year.



Got it.  I'd say the British way is more logical (since it reflects the fact that we are referring to the thirty-first day of the month), and the American way is more efficient (fewer words needed).  Japanese, though, beats both, by being both logical and concise.  We say "one month thirty-one day."  (February is two month, March is three month, and so on).


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## Wandering JJ

Yes, I'm familiar with that from Chinese: "one moon thirty-one date/number".


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## levmac

One last point: I would always say it the *ordinal* way, even if it was written as a *number*.

January 31 = I read "January [the] thirty first."
31 January = I read "The thirty first of January."


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## JennyTW

levmac said:


> One last point: I would always say it the *ordinal* way, even if it was written as a *number*.
> 
> January 31 = I read "January [the] thirty first."
> 31 January = I read "The thirty first of January."



Are the brackets around "the" because you would also say it like that, or because Americans say it like that?


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## levmac

JennyTW said:


> Are the brackets around "the" because you would also say it like that, or because Americans say it like that?



If it is written in that order, I think I would be happy to say it either way, but my wife is American and I work in a multi-national, so I might be a bit fuzzy on this. What's your take?


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## JennyTW

levmac said:


> If it is written in that order, I think I would be happy to say it either way, but my wife is American and I work in a multi-national, so I might be a bit fuzzy on this. What's your take?


Well, I just asked because I would always say "the" here and I believe most Brits would too. I think you've been a bit Americanised!


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## levmac

It definitely sounds better to me with "the" but I think, especially with the more regular ordinal numbers, I would probably be flexible. One thing I will never do is omit the "and" in numbers. "One hundred four" anyone?


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## JennyTW

levmac said:


> It definitely sounds better to me with "the" but I think, especially with the more regular ordinal numbers, I would probably be flexible. One thing I will never do is omit the "and" in numbers. "One hundred four" anyone?


No, thanks!


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## infernal war

So my British and American friends, what way would  you recommend  me to use when speaking and writing?


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## inib

infernal war said:


> So my British and American friends, what way would  you recommend  me to use when speaking and writing?


I think it's pretty clear. It depends on whether you want to sound British or American. Both are equally good, but your listeners will have preferences.


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## infernal war

Bueno pero no se enoje.


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## inib

infernal war said:


> Bueno pero no se enoje.


No me he enojado para nada, de verdad. Solo quería decir que yo podría comentar sobre lo que me suena "bien" o "natural", pero mi opinión no sería más valiosa que la de alguien que opine lo contrario.


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## infernal war

Perdón te estaba molestando. Me gusta más el British style pero por la tv, la música y otras cosas estoy mas influenciado por el American style. 
Entonces la estructura británica correcta sería:
Today is the twenty first of march of twenty and fourteen year?


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## Klystron29

"Today is the twenty first of march of twenty and fourteen year?"

As a British English, the most common for me (in your quoted date) would be:-     Today, the twenty-first of March, two thousand and fourteen.


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## infernal war

So the word "year" at the end is not needed, is it?


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## infernal war

So the word "year" at the end is not needed, is it? and also the "of" after the month?


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## Klystron29

Correct, infernal war.


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## Klystron29

"What's the date today, please?"

"Today is the eighth of February, two thousand and fourteen".


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## infernal war

Ok. Que mi dios le pague y le dé el cielo.


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## roxcyn

Depende con quién hablas o escribes.  Normalmente escribo 31 Jan. 2014 porque cualquier lector lo entiende. Cuando hablo digo "the thirty-first of January twenty-fourteen."


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## infernal war

Bueno muy gentil de tu parte también. Básicamente veo que en el estilo británico usan "and" entre números pero el resto es casi lo mismo. 
Gracias su merced.


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## fernanduz

On my Cel I see "Saturday, February 8", tras la hora. No sería importante el año.


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## gengo

roxcyn said:


> Cuando hablo digo "the thirty-first of January twenty-fourteen."



Interesting, because in my experience, I'd estimate that Americans say it that way less than 1% of the time.  We say "*January thirty-first, twenty fourteen* (or two thousand fourteen)."  I'm quite confident of that, speaking for the country as a whole.  That is, while certain people may use your format often, the vast majority of Americans do not.


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## roxcyn

¡Hola gengo!  No, es como *yo* la digo.  Sí, digo esta también: "January thirty-first, twenty fourteen (two thousand fourteen)".


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