The right way to write dates

Yes, there is a correct way to write dates. A way that clearly communicates, is logical and visually clean. Writing the date in the correct way will add to the professionalism of your business writing. Be sure to add it to your business’s writing style guide.

The correct format is:

1 August 2017

No punctuation. No ‘st’. No ‘of’. It’s much more appealing than:

August 1, 2017 or

1st August, 2017

If you need to use the name of the day, a comma is used to separate it from the date:

Tuesday, 1 August 2017

The correct way to write dates in figures is:

1.8.2017 or
1.8.17

Using slashes is not technically correct, such as 1/8/2017. Slashes should be used to indicate things like alternatives (yes/no), abbreviations (a/c), fractions (1/3) and per (60km/h). Financial years are often written incorrectly using a slash, e.g. 2016/17. Instead it should be 2016–17, using a en dash.

If you need help to sharpen your business writing, or to develop a writing style guide for your business, get in touch with me.