Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 3: Only use numbers
• Method 2 of 3: Combine words and numbers
• Method 3 of 3: Speak the date
• Tips

Whether you're writing a letter to a German friend or booking a trip to Munich, if you know how to get the date (tie Date) in German, you can avoid miscommunication. Whether you write the date in German with numbers only or with a combination of words and numbers, always state the day first, then the month, then the year. In many situations, the date is also preceded by an article or a preposition.

To step

Method 1 of 3: Only use numbers

1. Place an article before the date. In some situations, such as in letters or other formal writing, the date is preceded by the article der ("De") or am ("On" or "on the").
   • For example, if you wanted to say something about an event that happened on January 22, 2019, you would from 22.01.2019 can write to indicate "January 22, 2019", or am 22.01.2019 which means "on January 22, 2019".
2. Write the date in day-month-year format. When writing a date in German, state the day of the month first, as you are used to in Dutch, followed by the number of the month, followed by the year. Germany, like us, uses the Gregorian calendar, with 12 months.
   • For example, if you see the date 01.04.2019 in German, this means, just like in Dutch, April 1, 2019 - not January 4, as in English.

   Tip: When dealing with a single digit day or month, put a "0" in front of the digit to take that place. For example, the date will be July 4, 2019 from 04.07.2019.

   
   
3. Separate the parts of the date with periods. Use a period between the numbers for the day, month, and year. Do not add a space after the period. A period after the year is not necessary, unless of course if the date is at the end of a sentence.
   • For example, if you wanted to write the date January 12, 2019 in numbers in German, you would write "12.01.2019".

Method 2 of 3: Combine words and numbers

1. If necessary, write down the day of the week first. In some situations you must (or want) to include the name of the day of the week when writing out a date. You usually do this with an invitation to an event or a notification of a meeting. The name of the day of the week is followed by a comma.
   • For example: "Dienstag, 22 January 2019". (Tuesday, January 22, 2019).
   • In German are the days of the week Assembly (Monday), Service day (Tuesday), Mittwoch (Wednesday), Donnerstag (Thursday), Freitag (Friday), Samstag (Saturday) and Sonntag (Sunday).

   Tip: In German you write the days of the week with a capital letter, unlike in Dutch. Monday is the first day of the week and Sunday is the seventh or last day of the week, just like with us.

   
   
2. Write the number of the day, followed by a period. The period after the digit indicating the day of the month indicates that the number is an ordinal number. Unlike when writing the date with numbers only, there is a space after the period and before the name of the month.
   • For example: "July 4, 2019" you can write as der 4. July 2019.

   Tip: When using both words and numbers to write the date, you do not need to include "0" as a placeholder for single digit days.

3. Add the name of the month and the numbers for the year. Write down the name of the month after the day of the year. Type a space and end the date with the digits of the year. There is no punctuation between the month and the year.
   • For example, you write "December 24, 2019" as der 24. December 2019.
   • The months of the year are in German: Januar (January), February (February), März (March), April (April), Mai (May), June (June), July (July), August (August), September (September), October (October), November (November) and Dezember (December). They are easy to recognize and remember if you already know the months of the year in Dutch.

Method 3 of 3: Speak the date

1. Start with an article or preposition, if applicable. When you write or say the date in German, it usually precedes the actual date der (meaning "the") or am (meaning "on").
   • For example: you say der erste Mai zweitausendneunzehn before "the first of May of 2019".
2. Read the number of the day as an ordinal number. The period after the number indicates that this is an ordinal number. The end of the ordinal number changes if you say the date together with a preposition, such as am, or an article, such as der.
   • If there is no article or preposition, the ordinal ends in -er. For example, you would fünfter October zweitausendelf say to indicate "October 5, 2011". If you happen to use an indefinite article, such as ein (meaning "an"), the ordinal number would also be op -er end.
   • When you use a particular article, such as der, the ordinal number ends in -e. You say for example der fünfte October zweitausendelf to indicate "the 5th [of] October 2011".
   • If a preposition precedes the date, the ordinal number ends in -and. For example, you would say am fünften October zweitausendelf to denote "on October 5, 2011".
3. Use an ordinal number to pronounce the number of the month. If the name of the month was written out, you would just say the name of the month. However, if you read a date in German that is only written with numbers, you read the month as an ordinal number instead of listing the name of that month.
   • For example, if you from 01.02.2009 you would read this date as der erste zweite zweitausendneun, or "the first [of the] second [of] two thousand and nine".
4. Read years before 1999 as hundreds and later years as ordinal numbers. The way you say the numbers for the years in German changed from the year 2000. For that year, numbers are read as hundreds. For the year 2000 and after, read the number as it appears.
   • For example: you read the year 1813 as Achtzehnhundertdreizehn, meaning "eighteen hundred and thirteen." However, the year 2010 is read as zweitausendzehn, or two thousand and ten.

   Tip: Don't add the word und or and when reading the year, unless it is part of the number. So 1995 will be neunzehnhundertfünfundneunzig, or "nineteen hundred and ninety-five," but becomes 1617 sechzehnhundertsiebzehn, or "sixteen hundred seventeen" and not "sixteen hundred and seventeen".

   
   

Tips

• Most ordinal numbers in German are formed by adding -to at the end of it. However, there are a few exceptions: "first" becomes "first" and "third" becomes "dritte".