Dates are a headache. Even European and American business people are often confused about the expression of dates. However, dates are often an important part of email content that cannot be ignored. Let’s learn about the relevant knowledge about dates with the editor below!

For example, 8/4/2012 is difficult to judge whether it is August 4 or April 8, 2012; if it is 13/4/2012, it is relatively easy to understand, because the largest month is 12, and the 13 here must mean “day”, so you can immediately understand that it is April 13. If the year is also abbreviated, such as 04/08/09, then the year, month, and day cannot be distinguished.

The expression of dates can be roughly divided into two types: “British” and “American”.

British style: day/month/year (e.g. 8/7/12, 8/7/2012 corresponds to 8th Jul, 12; 8th Jul, 2012)

American style: month/day/year (e.g. 7/8/12, 7/ 8/ 2012 corresponds to July 8th, 12; July 8th 2012)

In order to avoid misunderstandings in email exchanges, it is best to use the full name when encountering expressions related to dates. For example:

July 8th, 2012 or 8 July, 2012

I hope the above content is helpful to you.